Millennials Flock To Hillary Clinton As The Democratic Nominee Is Outperforming Obama

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:04 pm

Younger voters are flocking to Hillary Clinton as she is doing better than President Obama did in 2012 with key groups of millennials.

According to the Harvard IOP Fall 2016 Poll:

When likely voters were asked their preferences in a four-way match up, Clinton received 49% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 21%, Johnson’s 14%, and Stein’s 5%. 11% indicated that they were still undecided. In a two-way match-up between Clinton and Trump, Clinton received 59% to Trump’s 25% among likely voters. Comparing these results to Obama’s position in the Harvard IOP Fall 2012 survey, Clinton is performing better among female voters (+14), white voters (+12), and non-college voters (+10). And when compared to Mitt Romney’s position in the same 2012 poll, Trump is underperforming by 17 percentage points among young Republicans.

Young voter turnout is looking like it will be same as 2012, as 49% of younger voters say they will definitely vote. This is up one point from 2012. There has been a six-point increase in the number of young females who say they will be voting (51%), an eight-point increase in young Hispanics who will vote (39%), a seven point in increase in young Independents who will vote (36%).

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

On the Republican side, there was a 9 point decrease in young Republicans who will vote (56%).

Republicans are the party with the millennial problem. Donald Trump is decreasing younger voter turnout in his own party.

The fact that millennial turnout is on pace to be a little better than it was for Obama in 2012 destroys the idea that Obama was the only reason that millennials came out to vote in previous elections.

Younger voters have become a key part of the Democratic constituency, as both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have worked hard to make sure that these voters understand the stakes and feel included in the Democratic Party in 2016.

Hillary Clinton doesn’t have a millennial problem, but the nightmare may be just beginning for Republicans continue to be on the wrong side of every issue that matters most to younger voters.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association