Americans have grown more skeptical that a woman will be president in their lifetime

(Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images) Two years after Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful run for president, a rising share of Americans say it’s unlikely a woman will be elected president in their lifetime. Growing share of Americans say it’s not likely a woman will be president in their lifetime % saying it is ___ that the United States will elect a woman as president in their lifetime Note: Shares of respondents who didn’t offer an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 6-12, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Growing share of Americans say it’s not likely a woman will be president in their lifetime % saying it is ___ that the United States will elect a woman as president in their lifetime Extremely/Very likelySomewhat likelyNot too/Not at all likely7/1/20232549267/1/2026174437 Note: Shares of respondents who didn’t offer an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 6-12, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Some 37% of Americans now say it’s not too or not at all likely that the United States will elect a woman as president, up from 26% in 2023, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. The share who say it’s extremely or very likely has fallen from 25% in 2023 to 17% today. Another 44% say it’s somewhat likely, down from 49%. Among men and women and Democrats and Republicans alike, relatively few Americans say it’s highly likely that a woman will be president in their lifetime. At the same time, the share of Americans who say it’s extremely or very important to them personally that the U.S. elects a woman president is unchanged from 2023, with 18% saying this in each survey. Most (66%) say it’s either not important to them or that the gender of the president doesn’t matter. Another 16% say it’s somewhat important. About this research This Pew Research Center analysis looks at whether Americans think it’s likely that a woman will be elected president in their lifetime, as well as whether it’s personally important to them. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center does research to help the public, the media and decision-makers understand important topics. This research builds on our work on gender and political leadership. How did we do this? We surveyed 3,554 U.S. adults from July 6 to 12, 2026. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of all U.S. adults. Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology. Who most wants to see a woman president? While Democrats and Republicans have similar views on the likelihood of a woman president, they differ widely in seeing this as personally important. Three-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say it’s extremely or very important to them that a woman is elected president in their lifetime. This compares with just 5% of Republicans and GOP leaners. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say it’s highly important to them that a woman is elected president in their lifetime % saying it is ___ to them personally that the U.S. elects a woman as president in their lifetime Note: Shares of respondents who didn’t offer an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 6-12, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say it’s highly important to them that a woman is elected president in their lifetime % saying it is ___ to them personally that the U.S. elects a woman as president in their lifetime Extremely/Very importantSomewhat importantNot too/Not at all important/The president’s gender doesn’t matterGroupingAll adults181666AllMen121573GenderWomen221760GenderRep/Lean Rep5887PartyDem/Lean Dem302446Party Note: Shares of respondents who didn’t offer an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 6-12, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Most Republicans (87%) say electing a woman as president is not too or not at all important to them or that the president’s gender doesn’t matter. Fewer than half of Democrats (46%) say the same. Women are more likely than men (22% vs. 12%) to say it’s highly important to them that a woman is elected president. Still, majorities of men and women (73% and 60%) say it’s not important to them or the president’s gender doesn’t matter. Democratic women place more importance on electing a woman president % saying it’s extremely or very important to them that the U.S. elects a woman as president in their lifetime Note: Refer to topline for full question wording. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 6-12, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Democratic women place more importance on electing a woman president % saying it’s extremely or very important to them that the U.S. elects a woman as president in their lifetime ResponseGroupingAll women22Among womenRep/Lean Rep6Among womenDem/Lean Dem37Among womenAll men12Among menRep/Lean Rep3Among menDem/Lean Dem22Among men Note: Refer to topline for full question wording. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 6-12, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Democratic women are especially likely to say it’s extremely or very important to them that a woman is elected president: 37% say this, compared with 22% of Democratic men. Only 6% of Republican women, compared with 3% of Republican men, say this is highly important to them. Among those who say it’s highly important to them that a woman is elected president, 30% say this is extremely or very likely to happen in their lifetime. Another 30% say it’s not too or not at all likely, while 40% say it’s somewhat likely. In turn, those who say electing a woman president is less important to them are more skeptical it will happen. Rachel Minkin is a senior researcher focusing on social and demographic trends research at Pew Research Center.