Like other Democratic voters, youth voters in 2022 turned out in higher numbers in battleground states, and they more heavily supported Democratic candidates than the national average. For example, in Pennsylvania, the youth vote turnout was 31% (4 points higher than the national average) and 70% of those young Pennsylvania voters preferred the Democratic Senate candidate. According to some analysts, the extremist positions of the Republicans have both energized young Democrats to get out and vote while discouraging young Republicans from turning out.
There is also evidence that there is much more political unity on basic social issues between older and younger Democrats than between older and younger Republicans, with young Republican voters showing less support than their older counterparts for American isolationism and culture wars over race and gender. As a result, more extreme Republicans have fewer supporters among their young voters, but Democrats can count on a large group of political allies among their younger ranks.
Overall, Democrats need to do everything we can to get young voters, particularly young voters of color, to the polls — the 27% turnout rate in 2022 is impressive compared to the past, when it has traditionally hovered at just about 20% of eligible young voters, but it also means that there are many, many young voters we still haven’t reached.
We need to engage younger voters where they are–which is primarily on social media. Research shows that the younger generation gets their news from digital platforms like TikTok and YouTube. By contrast, Republicans, particularly older Republicans, rely on traditional broadcast media like Fox News (over half of whose viewership is over 65.) This means that we don’t need to rely on traditional broadcast media in order to reach younger voters, but instead can, and should, employ more accessible forms of digital media, like social media platforms, to get young voters registered and then to get them to show up at the polls.
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