The young voters who gave Donald Trump his biggest surprise in 2024 are slipping away from him, and the shift could matter in this year’s midterm races.
A New York Times/Siena University poll released Friday found Democrats now holding a one-point lead among young men, a group where 55 percent backed Trump in 2024. Support for Republicans among young women, about 31 percent of whom voted for Trump two years ago, has dropped to roughly 13 percent.
The move extends beyond the under-30 crowd. Men between 30 and 44 have flipped from a 17-point Trump advantage in 2024 to a 6-point Democratic edge, according to the poll’s analysis.
Interviews accompanying the polling point to pocketbook pain first. Rising fuel and housing costs and wages that have not kept up were the most common reasons young voters gave for souring on the president. Others named the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, foreign policy decisions, and the treatment of women.
There is a catch. Turnout among the youngest voters was around 30 percent in the 2022 midterms, and pollsters caution that the numbers only change Congress if these voters show up.
Source: Political Wire
