Support for the Democratic Party is cratering among millennial voters, according to a new poll.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found that, among voters age 18 to 34, their support for Democrats over Republicans in Congress has plunged by 9 percentage points over the past two years. Democrats still receive the plurality of millennial support, at 46 percent overall, but Republicans have dramatically narrowed the gap.
This could be incredibly problematic for the Democrats’ efforts to gain control of 23 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, in order to win back that chamber—because millennials have emerged as one of the Democrats’ core constituencies. If they don’t turn out at the polls, or if they turn towards Republican candidates, the Democratic “blue wave” could be in grave peril.
Reuters quoted Donald Green, a political science professor at Columbia University in New York City, who explained that millennials think and vote differently than previous generations.
“They’re not as wedded to one party,” he said. “They’re easier to convince than, say, your 50- or 60-year-olds who don’t really change their minds very often.”
