A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
One of the many groups that swung back toward Democrats this week were young voters. They were long seen as part of the Democratic base, but voters under 30 shifted right two years ago, motivated by Donald Trump's pledge to better their economic prospects. So what caused them to so decisively shift back to Democrats? NPR political reporter Elena Moore has been looking into the results. Elena, so we know about the blue wave, pretty clear this week. How big was that Gen Z blue wave?
ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Yeah. Well, you know, in recent elections, A, Democrats have done well when they win young voters by a margin of at least 20 points. On Tuesday, they carried the group by nearly 50 points, according to exit polls - the largest margin Democrats have had with young people in decades. And though young voters do turn out at lower rates than older voters do, that sizable support made a difference on the margins. I mean, take a look at the Texas Senate race, for example. Democrat James Talarico won the state by 12 percentage points. Looking at just Gen Z, voters under 30, he won it by 60 points. And, you know, other winning Democrats also won large shares of the youth vote, like in Georgia, where Jon Ossoff won 85%, and even in Kansas, where Adam Hamilton got 82%.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, so a really big change from 2024. Any idea why?
MOORE: Yeah. I mean, it's massive, like, 37-point shift to the left massive. And as for why, I mean, it's likely a mix of things. There's no denying that many young people are unhappy with Trump and his agenda. Economic issues were the top concern, and voters expressed deep frustration with the state of things. Exit polling found that more than 8 in 10 saw Trump's tariff policies as hurting the economy, and a similar share said the U.S. made the wrong decision in going to war with Iran. It's also just not a monolithic group. And another reason for the shift might once again, A, fall to young men. Trump narrowly won the group two years ago. On Tuesday, they shifted left by double digits.
MARTÍNEZ: You're talking about how many young people saw their vote as a rejection of President Trump, but how much of that was driven by former Trump voters?
MOORE: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm curious about the same thing. We don't have a ton of data on nonvoters right now. Some folks may very well have stayed home, but what we do know right now is that at least some did flip and cast ballots for Democrats this year. It's estimated that some 15% of young people who backed Trump in 2024 voted for a Democratic House candidate in this cycle. That's according to new data from CIRCLE, a nonpartisan research group at Tufts University. On a call with reporters Thursday, Leela Strong, who heads CIRCLE, gave this takeaway.
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LEELA STRONG: Young people are not transactional voters. They are acting on concerns about the economy and a democracy that isn't working for their generation, and rewarding candidates who hear and see them.
MARTÍNEZ: Right. So that's that - young voters back to being a solid part of the Democratic Party base.
MOORE: Not so fast, A. I mean, you know, for one, it's a generation where a plurality identify as independents. And, you know, there are high stakes for both parties right now. Young people are looking for Democrats to actually deliver the economic change they campaigned on, something that will be key if the party wants Gen Z to stay in its camp. And Republicans, on the other hand, are going to have to do a lot of work if they want to chip away at Democrats' expanded edge here. Another thing to keep in mind is this is a growing group. By 2028, Gen Z and millennial voters will make up more than half of the electorate. So investments here matter.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR political reporter Elena Moore. Elena, thanks.
MOORE: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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