Poll: Male N.J. voters unsure about female president

Many male voters in New Jersey are uncomfortable with the idea of electing a female president.

That's the takeaway from a new Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll.

The poll, released Wednesday, found that prompting male voters to think about gender made them more likely to support Republican front-runner Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Female voters asked to think about gender issues, however, became less likely to favor Trump over the former secretary of state. The poll found no such discrepancy when voters were asked about a matchup between Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is running against Clinton for the Democratic nomination, "indicating the effect was specifically driven by Clinton's gender rather than her political party," a statement from the poll said.

Half of those interviewed were asked a question meant to prompt thoughts about gender. The other half of those polled were not.

Among men who weren't asked the gender question, Clinton beat Trump, 49 percent to 33 percent. But for men posed the question, Trump topped Clinton, 50 percent to 42 percent.

Reminding men about gender issues "leads to a 24-point swing in the matchup, from a 16-point advantage for Clinton to an eight-point deficit," the poll said.

Among women, support for Trump dropped when voters were prompted to consider gender: Clinton held a 57-36 advantage over Trump for those not asked the gender question and a 59-26 lead among those who were.

The poll, which surveyed 694 registered voters by landline and cellphone from Feb. 24 to 28, has a 3.9 percentage point margin of error.