That gap grew even wider when voters were asked whether they thought their neighbors were ready for a gay president. About a quarter of respondents answered affirmatively, while 46 percent said their neighbors were either definitely or probably not ready for a gay president. Pluralities of both Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents, all said they did not believe that their neighbors were ready for a gay president.

The POLITICO/Morning Consult survey results are far from hypothetical. The poll reveals a mixed bag of potential implications for the candidacy of Pete Buttigieg, the only openly gay candidate in the race. The mayor of South Bend, Ind., began his run as a longshot but has since shown flashes of being a real contender in the race.

But Buttigieg’s sexuality “may be an issue for some voters as he remains in contention for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination,” said Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult”s vice president. “Notably, 58 percent of Republicans, 32 percent of independents and 22 percent of Democrats say they aren’t ready for a gay or lesbian president. The comparative figures not ready for a female president are 36 percent of Republicans, 15 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats.”

The POLITICO/Morning Consult survey results come days after McClatchy published internal focus group findings indicating that Buttigieg’s openness about his sexualty is one reason the young mayor has struggled to gain traction among black voters, a major Democratic constituency. According to a report summarizing the focus groups’ findings, undecided black voters in South Carolina viewed Buttigieg’s sexuality as “a barrier” to earning their votes, though not necessarily “a red line that they wouldn’t cross.” They also cited his age, name recognition and relative inexperience in government compared with other frontrunners in the race.

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Voters were polled on their opinions of a number of different traits, from being a vegan to being nonreligious to being unmarried. Of those, they were only more likely to say the country isn’t ready for a president who is nonreligious or agnostic than they were to say the country isn’t ready for a gay president.

They were also surveyed about whether the country is ready for a Hispanic president — 56 percent say it is.

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll was conducted Oct. 25-28, surveying 1,997 registered voters, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.

More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents: Toplines: https://politi.co/2qVoOAt | Crosstabs: https://politi.co/2MUFEI9