Young voters swung decisively toward Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections, helping the party capture House and Senate seats after a loss of support among that age group in 2024. Exit polling showed Democrats winning voters under 30 by nearly 50 percentage points. The party has performed well in recent elections when its advantage among young voters reached at least 20 points.
Americans ages 18 to 29 accounted for 11% of ballots cast, continuing their pattern of voting at lower rates than older Americans. Even with that smaller share, their support helped Democrats in races where the party flipped seats. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico won the Senate contest by 12 percentage points overall, while his margin among Gen Z voters reached 60 points.
The results marked a reversal from two years earlier, when young voters moved toward Donald Trump, drawn by his promises to improve their economic prospects. This time, Democrats’ message of change found support among a generation in which many feel the American Dream is beyond their reach. Democrats also credited their candidates with generating enthusiasm.
Opposition to Trump was another factor. During his second term, young Americans became increasingly dissatisfied with the president, with some saying he had not delivered on promises involving lower prices, avoiding new wars, fighting federal corruption and releasing the Epstein files. Economic issues led the concerns of voters ages 18 to 29, with 43% identifying them as their top priority. More than eight in 10 said Trump’s policies had made economic conditions worse, and similar proportions opposed his tariffs and the decision to go to war with Iran.
Early analysis by CIRCLE found that 15% of young people who voted for Trump in 2024 supported a Democratic House candidate in the midterms. Young white men and Latino men, who narrowly favored Republicans two years ago, backed Democrats by double-digit margins on Tuesday. Democrats also reduced their deficits among young rural voters and those without college degrees. Some of the shift may reflect young Trump supporters staying home, although their numbers remain unclear.
John Della Volpe, a left-leaning pollster who directs the Harvard Youth Poll, said the outcome illustrated that neither major party can take Gen Z’s support for granted. He emphasized that successive groups of young voters have different experiences and that parties and candidates must earn their backing.
The Harvard survey released in October had already shown an enthusiasm gap: half of young Democrats said they definitely intended to vote, compared with a third of young Republicans and fewer than a quarter of independents. Della Volpe cautioned that a fuller assessment requires understanding both who participated and who stayed home.
Gen Z and millennials are expected to constitute more than half the electorate by 2028. Elizabeth Matto, director of Rutgers University’s Center for Youth Political Participation, said young adults care about politics and have the ability to determine election outcomes, making them a constituency that deserves attention.
