New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsall broke down why he believes the Democratic Party has suffered significant losses among men — across nearly all demographic groups — in the lead up to, and following, the 2024 presidential election in an essay published on Tuesday.
Edsall argued that Democrats have failed to recognize and deal with the costs of the "revolutionary change" in the societal order they have championed since the mid-1960s, which he believes has given Republicans the upper hand among men on issues based on "race, religion and sexual identity."
"The Democratic Party lost ground in the 2024 election among almost all demographic groups — White people, Black people, Latinos, the young, rural and exurban voters — but all the defections had one thing in common: Democratic losses were significantly greater among men than among women," he noted.
Edsall emphasized that not just White men — traditionally a Republican stronghold — but men across nearly all racial groups have been shifting their support away from the Democratic Party.
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"The most severe declines in Democratic voting, according to Catalist, ‘were concentrated among the younger cohorts of voters, particularly young men. For instance, support for Democrats from 2020 to 2024 among young Black men dropped from 85 percent to 75 percent and support among young Latino men dropped from 63 percent to 47 percent,’" he reported.
As noted by Edsall, the share of President Donald Trump's voters who are White fell from 88% in 2016 to 78% in 2024, showing the increasing diversity of the party.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party is becoming more and more White, with the White share of Democratic voters growing from 60% in 2016 to 64% in 2024, according to the Pew Research Center.
Edsall asserted that the future of the party looks "bleak" if men at large continue to trend towards Republicans the way that they have been.
"Instead of the near parity between the two parties that has characterized presidential elections from 2000 to 2020, the default advantage is shifting to the Republican Party. All things being equal, it is more likely to be the winner," he stated.
Through a collection of email responses and articles from experts in the field, Edsall made his case for how the Democratic Party lost the support of men by failing to cater to the issues they face.
Margaret Talev, director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, explained to Edsall via email what she believed Trump did to attract so many new male voters.
"If you want someone’s vote, you should ask for it. When it came to men, Trump did. He celebrated hypermasculinity, and his message to men of all races and ethnicities was essentially, ‘Democrats don’t understand you or want to help you, but I do and I will.’ Harris and Trump won’t be on the ballot again, but the trouble for Democrats is that the effect seems to have lasted beyond the election," she asserted.
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Richard Reeves, the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, told the columnist that "Democrats effectively ran as the Women’s Party," which made men feel alienated.