Our research found that voters do not have strong opinions about lieutenant governors. This creates both an awareness obstacle, and an opportunity to define the role of lieutenant governor, for women in this position. The research provides an unprecedented look at how voters perceive women running for or serving as lieutenant governor.
Key Findings:
- A prominent & active woman lt. governor reflects positively on the governor. A solid majority (63%) of voters say they have warm, favorable feelings about a governor who has a prominent and active woman lt. governor, though intensely warm, favorable feelings were low and three in ten voters were neutral. Across gender, age, party identification, and race, majorities of voters feel warmly, and Democrats (75%), AAPI (70%), Black (68%), and Latinx (67%) voters are most likely to say they have warm, favorable feelings about a governor who has a prominent and active woman lt. governor. A solid majority (63%) of voters say they have warm, favorable feelings about a governor who has a prominent and active woman lt. governor, though intensely warm, favorable feelings were low and three in ten voters were neutral. Across gender, age, party identification, and race, majorities of voters feel warmly, and Democrats (75%), AAPI (70%), Black (68%), and Latinx (67%) voters are most likely to say they have warm, favorable feelings about a governor who has a prominent and active woman lt. governor.
- With little knowledge among voters about lt. governors, the role is a blank slate. For much of the For much of the electorate, there is a lack of awareness around the role of lieutenant governors. Governors and lt. governors have an opportunity to define the role and tell the story of their accomplishments to the public.
- Voters don’t have strong opinions about lt. governors. Voters say they do not have that much information about a lieutenant. governor and what roles they may play. They feel they do not hear much from them or about them. This lack of intensity about the role could be because people do not think of the office of lieutenant governor as that important.
- Most people don’t express a preference for the gender of a lt. governor. Though for those who did express a preference, there was a gender gap: Men preferred a man lt. governor and women preferred a woman lt. governor. Black, Latinx, AAPI, and Native/Indigenous voters prefer a woman. However, while most say their friends and neighbors would likely have no gender preference, both men and women voters think their neighbors would prefer a man lt. governor.
- Voters want to know about accomplishments in office. They want to know what individual results the lt. governor has achieved themselves, rather than how they may have assisted the governor. Across demographic subgroups, voters rate supporting the governor as the least or one of the least important qualities. Voters want to know which results the lt. governor has achieved, not how or what she assisted. They want someone who is a problem solver and want to know what problems they solved.
- Voters are more interested in the LG’s relationships with constituents than her relationship with the governor. The lt. governor’s relationship with the governor was less important to voters. It was less relevant if the governor and lt. governor were friends, or liked each other. What matters is that the lt. governor listens to the people and stands up for the people while being ethical and accountable.
- Voters want to see their lt. governor create two-way conversations, show accountability, & actively get things done. The traits that voters said are most important are focusing on issues that matter in the state, helping respond to a crisis, and listening to the people and bringing information back.
Read the Full Memo Here
“With a historic number of women serving as lieutenant governor, we expect that many of them will run for governor and win. From there, the sky’s the limit—or, maybe, the Oval Office’s the limit. After all, 17 of our 45 presidents were once governors.”
-President and Founder, Barbara Lee