WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- With a record number of women running for the U.S. Congress this year, a poll released Wednesday showed U.S. voters welcomed the trend.
According to the Pew Research Center survey, on average, 61 percent of respondents said more women running for office is a good thing, while only 5 percent said it is a negative trend. The rest remained neutral.
Broken down by gender and political leaning, women and democrats tended to have a more positive view, with 68 percent of women and 54 percent of men showing support.
Democrat voters or those with Democratic leanings overwhelmingly supported more women in public offices, with 80 percent in favor and just 1 percent voicing opposition.
The view among Republican voters is more split: 39 percent showed support, 10 percent rejected more women, and 50 percent were neutral.
While public opinion in general welcomed more women in public office, it was more divided on whether more women would boost effectiveness, transparency or civility in Congress.
Just short of 40 percent of those polled said more women can improve Congress, 7 percent believed the contrary would happen, and 53 percent said more women will not make any difference.
With the number of female politicians increasing, the expectancy of a female president is also on the rise. The percentage of people who expect to see a female president in their lifetime rose 7 percentage points from 38 percent in 2014 to 45 percent this year. The trend is seen across all demographic and political groups.
