Women Age 50-plus are the Voters to Watch in Pennsylvania

The 2024 election season is heating up which means that all eyes are on the critical battleground states, including Pennsylvania. With the presidency and control of Congress on the line, candidates should pay close attention to the commonwealth’s population of voters age 50 and over.

Simply put, older voters are the Commonwealth’s most reliable voters, casting the majority of ballots in election after election. In 2020, Pennsylvania voters age 50 and up were 55% of the electorate, and more than 6 out of 10 voters in the 2022 mid-terms were in this age group.

This cycle will likely be no different with a new AARP poll showing that eighty-five percent of voters age 50-plus say they are extremely motivated to vote in this election compared to 59% of voters age 18-49.

And, digging deeper into the data, it’s a good bet that older WOMEN will be the critical voting bloc that determines the outcome. They are a big group – just under 30% of likely voters and more than half (53%) of likely voters age 50-plus – who are highly motivated and more evenly divided by party than their male counterparts.

At this point in the race, Pennsylvania women age 50 and over are also split on their choice of presidential candidates, with 48% favoring President Joe Biden (D) while 47% support former President Donald Trump (R). Meanwhile, Senator Bob Casey (D) leads challenger Dave McCormick by an 11 point margin with this group, highlighting a 26 point gender gap as men age 50plus prefer McCormick by 15 points.

But, the election is a little more than five months away, which, as the saying goes, is a lifetime in politics. So, it may be most useful to look at the issues and concerns that are top of mind and likely to influence older women’s decisions in November.