Voters under 30 backed Democratic House candidates by a wide margin in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to early exit polling and analysis from Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).
The group carried Democrats by nearly 50 points, NPR reported, the largest margin the party has recorded with young voters in decades. CIRCLE put the split at 66 percent for Democrats and 31 percent for Republicans.
The shift reversed gains Republicans made with young voters in 2024, when Donald Trump narrowly won the age group. About 15 percent of young people who backed Trump in 2024 voted for a Democratic House candidate this time, according to CIRCLE data cited by NPR.
Texas offered the sharpest example. Democrat James Talarico won the Senate race statewide by 12 percentage points, but among voters under 30 he won by 60 points. In Georgia, Democrat Jon Ossoff won 85 percent of young voters.
Economic concerns drove the shift. Exit polling found the economy was the top issue for 43 percent of voters aged 18 to 29, and most in the group said they were frustrated with the handling of prices. More than 8 in 10 young voters said tariff policies hurt the economy, according to the same polling.
Turnout among 18 to 29 year olds reached an estimated 27 percent, CIRCLE said, the second highest for a midterm in 30 years, behind only the 31 percent recorded in 2018. Young voters made up about 11 percent of the total electorate.
Researchers urged caution in reading too much into the early numbers. Different surveys use different methods, and some of the shift may reflect which young voters turned out rather than a lasting change in views.
Source: NPR
