Presidential election exit polls find Kamala Harris and Donald Trump voters scared

We are in for rocky days ahead.

This truncated 109-day presidential battle between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has proven that it can happen here: A massive number of people across the nation did not find it disqualifying that a candidate who is a convicted criminal spews racist and sexist rhetoric, spreads lies and conspiracies, and wants to punish his political enemies. And I know I am leaving some things out.

One of the preliminary findings of the 2024 exit polls is how this election has left us scared.

When Harris voters were asked how they would feel if Trump were elected, 70% said they would be “scared,” followed by 24% who said they would be “concerned,” with 3% “optimistic” and 1% excited.

Trump voters, asked the same question, said if Harris won, 58% would be “scared,” 36% “concerned” and 3% “optimistic.” No one said they were “excited.”

Exit polls provide some of the best information we have about the electorate: who voted, what issues were important to them, how they feel about things and more. The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for a consortium that includes ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News. The surveys sweep in thousands of voters, some interviewed in person on Tuesday or before with early voters. Phone interviews were conducted to include voters who used mail ballots.

The exit poll found this election has left us with a gloomy outlook. Some 72% said they were dissatisfied or angry, and 26% were enthusiastic or satisfied with the direction in which we are headed.

Yes, there was a Harris-Trump gender gap

The gender gap? It happened. According to the exit polls, Harris, who would be the nation’s first female president, was backed by 55% of women and 43% of men.

Trump’s supporters were 53% men and 43% women.

Democracy a top issue for Harris voters, abortion far behind

That abortion did not rank even near first surprised me. Among Harris voters, 56% said their top issue was the “state of democracy,” followed by abortion at 21%, the economy at 13%, foreign policy at 3% and immigration at 2%.

Now, saving our democracy was certainly an issue that Harris campaigned on.

As Harris said Monday at a rally in Pittsburgh in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, “And here’s the thing, guys, we are fighting for a democracy. We are fighting for a democracy. And in a democracy, true leadership understands that the leader listens to the experts and listens to people who disagree with them. I will listen to people who disagree with me because I do not believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy."

But this 2024 presidential election was the first to occur since women lost the federal right to abortion in the landmark 2022 Dobbs decision, and the Harris campaign — and allied groups — devoted massive resources to making the argument that Harris would protect reproductive rights while Trump would continue to back efforts to erode them.

Democracy, economy top Trump voter issues

Despite Trump’s constant emphasis on immigration — his vow to conduct mass deportations if he became president again and his accusations about migrants being criminals and taking “Black” jobs — it was not the top issue for his supporters, exit polls show.

For Trump backers, the “most important issue” was the “state of democracy,” at 35%, followed by 31% who said the economy, 14% abortion, 11% immigration and 4% foreign policy.

Trump’s constant pounding on inflation — and blaming it on President Joe Biden and Harris — had an impact.

Harris, Trump voters divided on if vote was fair

Trump, who continued to deny he lost the 2020 election right through to the end of the campaign, has been setting the stage — with his allies — to claim victory on Tuesday no matter the vote totals. Trump in the closing days of the campaign has been talking about nonexistent voting irregularities.

According to the exit polls, among Trump voters, 47% said they were “confident” elections were conducted “fairly,” with 52% not confident.

Among Harris voters, it was a dramatically different picture. The exit polls found 88% of Harris voters were “confident” the elections were conducted fairly, versus only 11% who said they were “not confident.”

Many voters decided last week

Some of you have known since July 21 — the day Biden dropped his re-election bid and passed the baton to Harris — whether you would vote for Harris or Trump.

Then there are a lot of others who needed this campaign — the speeches, the negative and positive ads, the presidential and vice presidential debate — to help them decide.

According to the exit polls, in North Carolina, 58% of Harris backers decided last week. That makes sense because she had only 109 days to make her case. For Trump — making his third bid for president, 36% of his supporters decided in the last week.