With Trump's win, some women wonder: Will the US ever see a female president?

Voters had the chance this election to break the highest glass ceiling in American politics by electing Kamala Harris the nation’s first female president. Instead, they returned Donald Trump to the White House, a comeback that relied on significant -- even somewhat improved – support among women.

Some female voters on Wednesday mourned the missed opportunity to send a woman to the Oval Office and wondered when, if ever, it might happen.

“I am just aghast,” said Precious Brady-Davis, a Black transgender woman who’d just won a two-year term on a Chicago-area water management board — but her joy in that was tempered. “I am disappointed in my fellow Americans that, once again, we did not elect a qualified woman to the presidency.”

Those who supported Trump — like Katherine Mickelson, a 20-year-old college student from Sioux Falls, South Dakota — said the race came down to values and to issues like the economy, not gender. Even Harris herself sought her place in history without dwelling on her gender.

“While I think a lot of women would like to see a female president, myself included,” Mickelson said, “we aren’t just going to blindly vote for a woman.”

Despite the history-making potential of Harris’ campaign, she wasn’t able to expand on President Joe Biden’s 2020 support among women to cement a win, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. Fifty-three percent of women supported Harris, compared with 46% for Trump — slightly narrower than Biden’s advantage among them in 2020.

The prospect of electing the first female president didn’t rank high as a motivator for voters. Only about 1 in 10 voters said the fact that Harris would be the first woman was the single most important factor for their vote, while about one-quarter said it was an important driver, but not the most important.

Denise Martin in Georgia had a grim view: “I really feel like the majority of Americans still aren’t ready for a woman. They are so short-sighted.” That included, she said, some fellow female voters.

Women were more likely than men to say electing the first female president was at least a factor in their vote, VoteCast showed, though few said it was the main driver and about 4 in 10 women said it wasn’t a factor.

Black women were especially motivated by the potential for the first female president — about a third said it was the most important factor.

Maya Davis theorized that Harris’ identity as a Black and South Asian woman “absolutely” played a role in her defeat. As a Black woman herself, the 27-year-old North Carolina attorney said she’s constantly forced to prove herself.

“I don’t think there’s anything she could have done differently unfortunately,” she said of Harris. “Maybe not be a woman.”

Female supporters of Trump, 78 — who adopted a hypermasculine campaign style, used sexist tropes and vowed to protect women “whether they like it or not” — said they found his rhetoric perhaps unfortunate or hyperbolic, but less troubling than concerns about the economy, immigration and abortion.

Krissy Bunner of Greenville, South Carolina, called Trump a “promoter of women” and said the future is “so much brighter” for them because Trump was elected.

“He does so much, you know, for us,” the 56-year-old said. She described women who favored Harris as misled by the media, and said Trump’s stringent border policies and stance on barring transgender athletes from women’s sports would benefit all women.

Virginia King, 19, of Dallas, spoke about Trump’s unscripted nature. “He’s just kind of outspoken about what he thinks and what he does, whereas other people hide it,” she said. “It’s probably not ideal, but it doesn’t make me not support him.”

Other women found the former president’s bombast ominous and feared a second Trump term would further threaten their rights two years after his Supreme Court appointees helped overturn the right to abortion.

“All of women’s protections are going to go away if you don’t protect the basic fundamental issue of democracy to begin with,” said retired teacher Mary Ellen Brown, 66, of Newtown, Pennsylvania. Brown said she dressed in black Wednesday and feared her family was losing faith in their country.

After Harris stepped into the race in July, Trump doubled down on banter that many found paternalistic – and worse — as he tried to close the gender gap. He also offended many by calling Harris “stupid” or “lazy.” His running mate, JD Vance, called the vice president “trash.”

The discourse didn’t bother Nina Christina, a North Carolina nurse more worried about feeding her children. Christina, 35, voted for Trump and said she just hopes to avoid being “underwater.”

“It shouldn’t be this difficult to survive in everyday life,” said Christina, adding that Harris already had a chance to fix the economy.

Harris, 60, bypassed the suffragist white worn by Hillary Clinton in 2016 and rarely spoke about the glass ceiling during a frenzy of energetic campaign stops since becoming the Democratic nominee in July.

Her supporters welcomed the upbeat mood after what they saw as a series of setbacks for women’s progress in recent years: a workload surge during the pandemic, when children were sent home from school in 2020; the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022; and the steady drumbeat of #MeToo cases, some lodged against Trump.

In Minneapolis, 90-year-old Audrey Wesley -- who’s voted in more presidential elections than she can count off the top of her head -- said she’d been hoping a Harris victory would usher in a bipartisan resurgence.

“I can’t believe a man that has done this much against the law can even be running for president,” Wesley said, referring to the litany of legal battles, including sexual assault allegations, Trump brings to the office. “Our system is broken.”

Relatively few voters said Trump’s legal cases were a major factor in their decision-making this election, according to AP VoteCast. Only about a quarter of Trump voters said the legal cases involving Trump were at least an important factor, but about 8 in 10 Harris voters did.

Some women voters experienced the gender gap within their own homes or families — women like Dee Bertino, 55, of Moorestown, New Jersey, who spent her first date with her husband arguing about trickle-down economics. Twenty-five years and two sons later, she mailed in a ballot for Harris while her husband voted for Trump.

Bertino said her top concern was women’s rights, but she also bemoaned the lack of civility she felt Trump had unleashed. Her husband, Bob, 58, with whom she runs a sexual health company, also supported abortion rights, she said, but felt the economy, immigration and other issues were more important.

Having a woman president is "not that big" for me, Bertino said. “But I truly believe that our democracy is facing its largest threat in history, and Trump must be stopped.”

Bertino and her husband hotly debate politics and the election. That’s not true for Martin, in Peachtree City, Georgia,

Martin, 61, is a flight attendant. Her partner is a pilot. He voted for Trump, for the third time. She voted for Harris. Speaking about politics is fraught and painful, and they know to avoid it.

When Clinton lost in 2016, Martin said, she was beside herself and couldn’t talk to her partner for days. This year, Martin had hoped to privately celebrate the ascension of the first female president, a woman she supported not because she was a woman, but because she was the right candidate: “so thoughtful, so smart, so well-spoken.”

But the news did not seem good, so she went to bed. She awoke to see the race called for Trump, and grew tearful. Among her chief concerns: the future of democracy; health care, especially reproductive care for young women; respect for science; climate policy; and the United States’ standing in the world.

As Clinton herself has said, Harris didn’t need to emphasize the gender issue, because the public has grown more accustomed to seeing female candidates. Seven women, representing three political parties, ran for president in 2020.

”We now don’t just have one image of a person who happens to be a woman who ran for president – namely me,” she told the AP in September. “Now we have a much better opportunity for women candidates, starting with Kamala, to be viewed in a way that just takes for granted the fact that, yes, guess what? She’s a woman.”

Trump voter Elizabeth Herbert, a retired homeschool teacher from Wake Forest, North Carolina, saw Trump as a strong leader and family man. She would still like to see a woman president. She just didn’t embrace Harris.

“I think a woman could do a great job as president,” she said. “I don’t think she is the right woman.”

Some women who’d voted for Harris told AP they were too stunned to speak about the news. “I’m devastated,” texted one; “I’ll need a little time,” another wrote. Others said they were forcing themselves to move forward.

“We’ll get through today and then get some rest,” Martin said, looking forward to playing trivia with her friends later.

“The world is going to change, but we have to find our way in it. We can’t let this ruin us.”

Associated Press reporters Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia; and Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis contributed.

Precious Brady-Davis, a Black transgender woman who’d just won a two-year term on a Chicago-area water management board, speaks during an interview Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Justina Santos reacts as results come in during an election night party at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

People giving their first names Erika, left, and Leeann react after an abortion rights amendment to the Missouri constitution passed, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at a watch party in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Ed Torres, left, and J. Carrie Torres join others as they celebrate the Republicans retaking the Senate during a GOP election night party at Muldoon's Irish Pub in Newport Beach. Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP)

Leah Charles, left, and Tianna Adams, North Carolina A&T students, gathers with other students for an election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Students watch election coverage at Spelman College, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Voters fill out their ballots at a voting center at Lumen Field Event Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Annita Lentin of West Hollywood, Calif., walks through the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center after casting her ballot at a polling place there on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Marsha Molinari of West Hollywood, Calif., holds a cell phone at a polling place at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots outside a polling station on the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Ariz., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

First-time voter Elizabeth Vazquez, 33, left, receives in-person assistance from her mother, Estela Gonzalez, middle, and Victoria Arriaga, as she casts her ballot at Barrio Action Youth & Family Center in the El Sereno area of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Chicago school teacher Tabitha Berry, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, fills out a ballot for the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Hirieth Cervantes, freshman music major in Columbia College Chicago, waits to vote outside Chicago City Loop Super Site polling place on Election Day in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Voters cast ballots in Denver on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Chet Stgrange)

Supporters react as they watch election results at an election night campaign watch party for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sheron Campbell wears a Kamala Harris shirt while voting on Election Day in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) — California was lashed by powerful winds Wednesday that fed one fast-moving wildfire near multimillion-dollar properties along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu while hundreds of residents fled another fire farther north as forecasters warned of the potential for “extreme and life-threatening” blazes.

Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain the wildfire near Malibu's Broad Beach as authorities shut down the famous seaside roadway. Residents were urged to shelter in place while aircraft dropped water on the 50-acre (20-hectare) Broad Fire. It was 15% contained around 12:30 p.m. with forward progress stopped. Fire officials said two structures burned.

Meanwhile, northwest of Los Angeles, the rapidly expanding Mountain Fire prompted evacuation orders for multiple communities in an agricultural area near Santa Paula in southern Ventura County.

Aerial video from KTLA-TV showed at least 10 homes in a Camarillo neighborhood burning around 1 p.m., while other footage captured horses trotting alongside evacuating vehicles and golf carts.

Gus Garcia, who owns a ranch south of the fire, said he's waiting to see whether conditions will change to decide if he should evacuate his horses and cattle. Around 12:30 p.m., his animals were still safe and he was trying to stay out of the way as others got their livestock out.

His ranch is surrounded by others with horses and alpaca, and Garcia said his neighbors in the canyon did not seem panicked.

"The horse community, they prepare for this because it’s always a possibility up here,” he said.

Andrew Dowd, a county fire spokesperson, said he did not have details of how many structures had been damaged.

“There are a number of homes that have been impacted by fire,” he said. “It’s a rapidly moving fire.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, in a statement posted to the social platform X, said multiple state agencies are “all in close communication to coordinate and support needs in Ventura County.”

Tens of thousands of people had their power shut off across the state as a precaution.

The National Weather Service office for Los Angeles amended its red flag warning for increased fire danger with a rare “particularly dangerous situation” label.

With predicted gusts between 50 miles (80 kph) and 100 mph (160 mph) and humidity levels as low as 8%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions ripe for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior into Thursday, the weather service said.

Officials in several counties urged residents to be on watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees amid the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds.

"Those in canyon, mountain, and foothill communities should be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice," the LA County Office of Emergency Management said on X. Some canyon roads were closed as a precaution and fire departments positioned resources in areas prone to fires.

The Mountain Fire was mapped at just under 250 acres (100 hectares) around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, and by 11:30 a.m. it was more than five times larger at over 2.3 square miles (6 square kilometers).

The extreme wind conditions grounded fixed-wing aircraft because of “very dangerous” conditions caused by gusts topping 61 mph (98 kph), said weather service meteorologist Bryan Lewis. He said pilots could face turbulence that could bring a plane down, as well limited visibility from the massive smoke plume.

Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, the Ventura County Fire Department said. However, it was not immediately clear how they got hurt. The blaze crossed State Route 118 and spread to the Camarillo Heights neighborhood, prompting additional evacuations.

To the south in Orange County, fire officials said ash and debris were being kicked up from the Airport Fire, which tore through the area earlier this year due to high winds, but no active fires were reported there Wednesday. Gusts whipped through coastal cities, bringing down tree branches and toppling large trash bins.

Forecasters also issued red flag warnings until Thursday from California's central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into counties to the north.

Sustained winds of 30 mph (48 kph) are expected in many areas, with possible gusts topping 55 mph (88 kph) along mountaintops, according to the weather service office in San Francisco.

More than 20,000 customers in 17 Northern California counties were without electricity Wednesday morning after Pacific Gas & Electric shut off power to prevent its equipment from sparking fires amid dry and windy conditions.

Southern California Edison also preemptively shut off power for more than 46,000 customers, including more than 12,000 in Los Angeles County on Wednesday. Power shutoffs are being considered for more than 200,000 customers due to the risk, the company said on its website.

Utilities in California began powering down equipment during high winds and extreme fire danger after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were sparked by electrical lines and other infrastructure.

The Broad Fire was burning in the same area where in 2018 the Woolsey Fire killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes. That blaze was sparked by Edison equipment that scorched dry grasslands and burned across the Santa Monica Mountains all the way to the Malibu coast.

Dazio and Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, and Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, shows Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain a small blaze fed by erratic wind gusts that pushed flames through dry brush near Broad Beach along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (KABC-TV via AP)

In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, shows Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain a small blaze fed by erratic wind gusts that pushed flames through dry brush near Broad Beach along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (KABC-TV via AP)

Powerful winds and low humidity raise wildfire risk across California

Los Angeles city workers remove the remains of a fallen tree blown over by intense winds that crushed a fence in a city park on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Powerful winds and low humidity raise wildfire risk across California