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NC voters equally trust men and women as political candidates, poll finds

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Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the press after attending the annual Women's Empowerment Principles event at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. The potential 2016 U.S. presidential contender defended her use of a personal email account for official communications, saying it was "for convenience." (Niu Xiaolei/Xinhua/Sipa USA/TNS)

That’s according to a new poll from Meredith College political science professors Whitney Manzo and David McLennan. Still, nearly 100 years after giving women the right to vote, North Carolina and the rest of the nation continue to face a systemic lack of women in office.

“North Carolinians don’t have a problem electing a woman,” Manzo said. “The problem is, not enough women are running.”

While women make up more than half of registered voters in North Carolina, they occupy fewer than 25 percent of the elected and appointed offices in the state.

That issue has roots in local government, said Pat Orrange, vice president of the Women’s Forum of North Carolina.

“We need to encourage women to be involved at every level of government,” she said. “Less than 13 percent of high-ranking positions in local government are held by women.”

The poll also collected data on the public’s perception of Hillary Clinton, who announced Sunday that she is running for president. Clinton is the only major Democratic candidate to announce so far, but some experts question what role gender will play in the upcoming election.

“The poll on Hillary was very interesting,” Manzo said. “Democrats generally supported her while Republicans did not. The independent voters were more split.”

Overall, North Carolina voters who identified as independent did not favor Clinton.

“Compared to Obama in 2008, she’s not running nearly as strong with the groups he used to win the state,” McLennan said.

To win North Carolina, a battleground state in recent years, Clinton will need to appeal to people across demographics, including women.

“There’s a strong sense among women that they have to be perfect, at the top of their game, to even consider running for office,” Orrange said. “When women believe they wouldn’t be able to perform a job at a high standard, they fail to believe how another woman could do the same thing.”

McLennan said a recent trend of political polarization in the U.S. has discouraged many women from entering a hostile political atmosphere.

Still, research indicates that millennial voters are less polarized than their parent.

“If Hillary really is going to shatter the glass ceiling, women have to band together and overcome barriers, especially at the local level,” Orrange said.

state@dailytarheel.com

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