In the 2024 presidential election, an unexpected group of voters gained attention: pet owners. The AP VoteCast poll revealed that Donald Trump gained a notable advantage among those who own dogs, while support from cat owners was more evenly split between the two candidates.
This behavior reflects an interesting pattern in the political preferences of the electorate.
Harris Wins Support from Cat Owners
Women who own only cats showed a clear lean toward Kamala Harris. Approximately 60% of women in this group supported the Democratic candidate. In contrast, men who only own cats favored Trump, albeit more narrowly.
This phenomenon could be related to previous comments by JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, who made a controversial statement about “childless women with cats.”
While it is not possible to determine with certainty whether this intervention influenced the vote, women who supported Harris had a predominantly unfavorable opinion toward Vance and, in general, the Republican Party.
Dogs Favor Trump
On the other hand, dog owners proved to be a much larger and decisive voting bloc. In fact, approximately 30% of voters in 2024 owned a dog, which represented a significant portion of the electorate. Trump received the backing of 6 in 10 men who only owned dogs, and about half of the women in this group.
Partisan loyalty also played a role in this pattern: many of these voters identified with the Republican Party, giving Trump a sizable advantage among this segment.
Did Trump and Vance’s Statements in Pets Impact the Vote?
Despite Vance‘s comments about women with cats and Trump‘s controversial statements about immigrants in Ohio, it does not appear that these statements had a direct impact on voter behavior. The political allegiance of voters in both parties likely played a larger role in their decisions.
Although neither Trump nor Harris have pets, discussion of the issue came up on the campaign trail, highlighting how even the smallest details, such as pet preferences, can influence how voters align with certain candidates.
This poll, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, included interviews with more than 120,000 voters. The margin of error is ±0.4 percentage points.
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