Executive Summary
Nearly nine million LGBT adults are registered and eligible to vote in the 2020 general election. Half of registered LGBT voters (50%) are Democrats, 15% are Republicans, 22% are Independents, and 13% said they identify with another party or did not know with which party they most identify. LGBT voters are racially diverse, nearly half (47%) are under age 35, and one-third have at least a college education.
A 2019 national Williams Institute and Reuters/Ipsos poll asked LGBT and non-LGBT likely voters what they are looking for in a presidential candidate. In terms of political experience, LGBT voters were significantly more likely than non-LGBT voters to say that they would support a seasoned political candidate. The poll also found that LGBT voters were significantly more likely than non-LGBT voters to say they would support candidates who are black, Latino/a, or LGBT themselves. However, majorities of both LGBT and non-LGBT voters said that the race and sexual orientation of a candidate would not influence their vote.