RIGHT SPEAK: Women Balking At Trump

GOP fears loss of crucial swing-state voters if he is nominee

A 47-year-old stay-at-home mother, Gail Noren of Alexandria, Va., is exactly the type of voter Republicans need to win swing states. She’s voted for the Republican on every presidential ballot since she turned 18, starting with George H.W. Bush.

But the prospect that Donald Trump could capture the party’s nomination and bring his trademark bullying style — often aimed at women — to the top of the ticket is making Noren consider sitting out a presidential election for the first time.

Gail Noren, who lives in Alexandria, Va., and has

consistently voted for Republicans, is thinking about

not voting this year because of her distaste for Donald

Trump. Essdras M Suarez for The Boston Globe

“I feel like it’s almost the end of something, like there needs to be a split within the party,” said Noren, who voted for Marco Rubio in the Virginia primary this month. “Trump discourages women like me from going out to vote. A gazillion things that come out of that man’s mouth are offensive.”

Trump’s rhetoric — including his suggestion Wednesday that women who get abortions should be punished if the procedure is ever banned — is sending fear through GOP strategists who say their would-be presidential nominee could lead to losses in battleground states like Virginia, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Florida in November.

After his inflammatory remarks Wednesday, Trump reversed course a few hours later and said doctors, not women, should be punished.

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... Analysts say Trump is eroding inroads the party has attempted to make since its postmortem analysis of Mitt Romney’s 2012 loss recommended greater outreach to women, who make up 53 percent of the US electorate.

The problem for Republicans could be especially acute in wealthy suburbs around the country — such as Alexandria, the Washington, D.C., suburb where Noren lives. College-educated women are a key swing constituency in these areas, and some strategists say that not just the White House is at stake, but also control of Congress.