Women Hand Clinton His Victory

With male voters split virtually evenly between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, women voters’ strong preference for the incumbent Democrat propelled him to a second term.

National exit polls showed 54 percent of women had voted for Clinton, while 38 percent chose Dole. Men gave a slight edge to Dole, 44 percent to 43 percent.

The nationwide surveys, conducted by Voter News Service, a partnership of five television networks and The Associated Press, revealed an even stronger preference for Clinton among working women, who favored Clinton over Dole 57 percent to 34 percent.

“It looks as if women once again provided the margin of victory for Bill Clinton,” said Irene Natividad, who chairs Women’s Vote Project ‘96, a non-partisan voter-outreach coalition made up of 110 women’s groups.