U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris arrives to speak about reproductive rights at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 20, 2024. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) |
By Jodi Enda, The Fuller Project | During her short campaign for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris has reinvigorated the nation’s youngest voters—particularly women under 30, who support her by a massive 3:1 margin, according to a new national poll released Tuesday by the Institute of Politics at Harvard.
Harris also gained support among young men, and enjoys a 2:1 lead over the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, among likely voters under the age of 30, the Harvard Youth Poll reported. Her strength among young people stands in sharp contrast to that of Trump and the man she replaced atop the Democratic ticket, President Joe Biden. Both men had lackluster support among youth in the same poll last spring.
“The overall vibe has shifted, as well as preferences,” said John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, which produces the poll.
The poll of more than 2,000 young people found that 61 percent of likely young voters favor Harris and 30 percent back Trump. And while Harris, unlike Hillary Clinton before her, is not promoting her candidacy for its potential to break barriers, she is drawing the most strength from women.
Since entering the race in July, Harris has galvanized women and opened a yawning gender gap. A recent NBC News poll shows her with a 21-point advantage among women, while Trump has only an 8-point lead among men. Because Democrats typically dominate among women and Republicans win among men, Harris has to retain a greater level of female support in order to defeat Trump.
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