Poll: Democrats Lose Major Ground with Millennials as Midterms Approach
A new poll released Monday finds Democrats are losing support among millennials.
A Reuters-Ipsos survey determined that 46 percent of respondents would vote for a Democratic candidate over a Republican in their congressional district.
That number represents a 9 percent drop from the 2016 congressional elections.
The shift from 2016 is even more dramatic among white millennials.
“Two years ago, young white people favored Democrats over Republicans for Congress by a margin of 47 to 33 percent; that gap vanished by this year, with 39 percent supporting each party,” Reuters reported.
However, millennials overall are not yet flooding into the Republican Party’s ranks: only 28 percent expressed support for the GOP candidate over the Democrat, which is up 1 point from two years ago.
In addition, approximately two-thirds of respondents say they do not have a favorable view of President Donald Trump.
The fading enthusiasm for Democrats among voters ages 18 to 34 heading into the midterms may spell trouble for Democratic hopes of taking back either the House or the Senate from the Republicans this fall.
One of the poll’s participants — Terry Hood, a 34-year old African-American from Louisiana — told Reuters why he would be willing to vote for a Republican in November, even though he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“It sounds strange to me to say this about the Republicans, but they’re helping with even the small things,” Hood said in a phone interview. “They’re taking less taxes out of my paycheck. I notice that.”
In order to take back the House, the Democrats must flip 23 seats.
The Cook Political Report rates 22 seats held by Republicans as toss-ups going into the fall, while rate similarly from the Democrat side.
The fight to win control of the Senate is much more challenging for the Democrats, with the Republicans currently holding a 51 to 49 advantage going into the election.
Cook categorizes five seats the Democrats are now holding as toss-ups, including in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia.
Three seats currently held by Republicans are too close to call, including Arizona, Nevada and Tennessee.
The Reuters-Ipsos online survey was conducted during the first three months of this year, among 16,000 registered voters between the ages of 18 and 34.
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