Like many women, Leslie Mait had a feeling about Hillary Clinton. The 55-year-old from Glen Ellyn, Ill., had followed her career as first lady, a U.S. senator, and secretary of state for more than twenty years. "Something in her experience just [made me think], 'I think she can do it in spite of everything everyone says.'" But unlike most Clinton supporters, Mait is a Republican who has never before voted for a Democrat for president.

She's not alone. Nearly half of female GOP primary voters said they could not imagine themselves voting for Trump, according to a NBC/WSJ poll last month, while only 40 percent of male GOP primary voters said the same. And with Trump's chances of securing the nomination looking better and better, this is proving to be a trying time for Republican women.

There are many reasons GOP women are planning on voting for Clinton. I spoke with a few of them to better understand what exactly is motivating them to break with their party.

"I kind of grew up with Hillary always in the background of my adult life. She's always had an influence on me."

Many women—particularly those who have watched her marriage flounder, her struggles to raise a daughter under media scrutiny, and her climb to the top of the political ladder against the odds—feel a kinship with Clinton that has less to do with politics and more do to with her biography. Asma Hasan, a Republican, considers herself part of an exclusive sisterhood that counts Clinton as its most distinguished member. She started at Wellesley College in 1993, the same year Clinton, a 1969 graduate of the college, became first lady. "I kind of grew up with Hillary always in the background of my adult life," the Denver-based attorney and author tells me. "She's always had an influence on me and how I see the world."

Hillary Clinton at Wellesely College Commencement in 1992 Getty Images

Hasan, who's 41, says, equally important is a more fundamental form of sisterhood. "There's still a lot of sexism out there. And I think that one way to deal with that it is to try to support each other and mentor each other, encourage each other, give each other advice," she says. "There are people out there that will not vote for her because she's female―because of sexism, that is perhaps latent and hard to identify. ...I'm a woman first before I'm a Republican," Hasan says. "And I feel like having a female president is an important goal for women. Men have had their chance for a long time, and we have to have a female. It's just time."

"I'm a woman first before I'm a Republican. And I feel like having a female president is an important goal for women."

Some women in the GOP have found themselves drawn to Clinton not out of love for her, but fear of a Trump presidency. (Indeed, Hillary Clinton's latest ad plays like a lowlight reel of Donald Trump's foreboding overtures: "He says we should punish women who have abortions..." says the voiceover.) Last week, former first lady Laura Bush hinted that she'd rather see Clinton in the Oval Office than Trump. And Christine Todd Whitman, the former governor of New Jersey, told Bloomberg's With All Due Respect last month that she would take four more years of a Clinton administration over "the kind of damage I think Donald Trump could do to this country, to its reputation, to the people of this country."

"He has no political experience," says Rumer Richardson, 26, former intern for Republican senator John Cornyn. "I don't think bringing people to such a state of anger and unrest, like he's done at all of his rallies, is something we need in office. And I would not want to trust him with international relations with Canada, let alone North Korea and Iran."

Sarah Miller, a 22-year-old senior at Northwestern University and lifelong Republican, told me she thinks Trump is a "buffoon" and a "travesty" for the GOP. Spurred by his rise and trying to keep an open mind, she went to a watch party for the second Democratic debate, in November. Compared to Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley, Miller, an economics major, says it was "striking" how Clinton actually "knew what the fuck was going on" with the country's economy. While she disagreed with most of Clinton's positions, "I can recognize when someone just knows more than I do, or when someone has seen more than I have."

"It's going to be someone who I wouldn't necessarily have chosen at the outset, but who's at least smart and who knows what she's doing."

As the once-crowded field of Republican hopefuls winnowed, shedding more moderate candidates, Miller grew increasingly disenchanted with her party. Trump's rise is "a huge part" of why she's planning to vote for Clinton. "I've gotten there out of lack of options, kind of accepting that she's the best, she's the most experienced, knowing, qualified option we've got left," Miller says. "It's going to be someone who I wouldn't necessarily have chosen at the outset, but who's at least smart and who knows what she's doing."

Getty Images

At the beginning of the primary season, Becca Wu, a 23-year-old who lives in New York City, was excited about Jeb Bush. She could even imagine herself voting for Marco Rubio, even though she saw his youth and limited experience on the national stage as disadvantages. But after both men dropped out of the race, she figured it was time to broaden her horizons—especially with a Trump presidency looming. "At this point, I'm thinking, 'Who can beat Trump?' And that's where I land with Hillary."

Unlike their older counterparts, millennial women in the GOP say her historic candidacy—and the fact that she's a woman—isn't a central part of their decision to vote for her, if it enters into the equation at all. Richardson says she scrutinized Clinton's platform more closely so she could dismiss criticism that she was only voting for her because of her gender. Even still, there's an undercurrent of hope for Clinton rising to the most powerful office in the world.

"I would love to have a lady president," Wu told me. "That would be so badass."

Rebecca Nelson Rebecca Nelson is a magazine writer in New York.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io