Gender on the Debate Stage: Night 2 Numbers

Betsy Fischer Martin | Jun 28, 2019

 

For the full recap and questions list from night 1, head here.

 

The first round of democratic primary debates is officially complete! On night one, we saw 58 total questions posed to the candidates, 38% of which were directed at the three women on the stage.

Last night was a slightly different story. The moderators asked 75 questions, a 30% increase from night one. Of those questions, 25 went to, or were taken by, the three women on the stage. That’s 33% of all questions asked.

Here’s the breakdown by candidate:

  • 9 to Kamala Harris
  • 7 to Kirsten Gillibrand
  • 4 to Marianne Williamson
  • 5 to all of the candidates on the stage

When looking at the types of questions that were posed, we saw a significant drop in questions related to women’s issues. Of the 58 questions asked on Night one, 12% were directly related to women’s issues such a reproductive health and pay equity. On night two, only 4% (three total) of the questions related to women’s issues, and they were regarding reproductive rights and candidate’s diversity. Of those three questions, only one went to a woman and the other two went to a male candidate.

Here’s the full breakdown:

 

Our complete list of night 2 debate questions can be found here.

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