Education and religiosity define a voter’s culture — liberal or conservative.

It has long been the case that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican. That is still true, though not as much as it used to be. In the 2020 election, support for Trump came from 44 percent of the voters with family incomes below $50,000 and from 54 percent of those with family incomes of $100,000 or more.

What’s new is “the diploma divide.” Today, the better educated you are, the more likely you are to vote Democratic. White voters with a college degree voted 51 percent for Joe Biden in 2020; non-college whites voted 67 percent for Donald Trump.

What happens among voters who are both wealthy and well educated? They’re cross-pressured. Their conservative interests pull them to vote Republican. Their liberal values pull them to vote Democratic. That’s why, under Trump, Republicans have been losing so many wealthy white suburban voters. He offends their values. To many college-educated Republicans, Donald Trump is an embarrassment.