How the Trump Era Has Strained, and Strengthened, Politically Mixed Marriages

Women and Democrats are the groups that care most about having the same political views as their romantic partner, according to a 2020 installment of the institute’s American Perspectives Survey. President Trump has been particularly divisive, it found. Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they would not consider dating someone who disagreed with them about the president. Eight in 10 Democratic women said so.

In the Times/Siena poll, married men in Arizona, Ohio and Nevada preferred Mr. Trump by 13 percentage points, and married women preferred Mr. Trump by one point. (In general, married people are more conservative than single people, and men more conservative than women).

Michelle Krueger, a 24-year-old student in Phoenix, said she and her husband talk about politics often, and sometimes disagree. But they never differ on their support for the president: “We didn’t have to convince each other,” she said.

For others, it can get acrimonious. Most people who disagree with their partners about politics avoid the topic, the American Perspectives Survey found. Voter turnout is lower for mixed-partisan couples, who may skip voting to minimize conflict, Professor Hersh said.

Bertha Brunton, 52, a school health care provider in Angelus Oaks, Calif., plans to vote for Joe Biden. Her husband, George, a retired firefighting captain, supports Mr. Trump, to her great dismay. For him, gun rights supersede everything else.

“We decided not to talk about politics anymore because we couldn’t come to agreements,” she said. “My son is on my side, my oldest daughter is on his side, so it was causing conflict in every part of our family.”