Young voters backed Kamala Harris by just 4 points in 2024. But last week, young voters backed Democrats for Congress by a historic 35-point margin — a 31-point shift in just two years.
So, what happened?
In part, nothing *really*. Young voters prioritized the economy in 2024, but Democrats barely touched on it when talking to Gen Z, focusing instead on abortion, climate, and guns — and as a result, the gender gap was wide as young men perferred President Donald Trump by a 14-point margin.
This year, young voters were far more united around a single set of issues: economic anxiety, war, and corruption. Those are concerns everyone agreed on.
Zooming out, while the issues are the same, Gen Z’s politics are actively being reshaped by their overwhelming sense of economic anxiety, they’re not loyal to either party (and becoming increasingly cynical about both — even if they still vote), and ultimately, they’re looking for results.
As a 21-year-old from Chicago shared before the election:
“I’m just disillusioned with everyone right now. High taxes and crazy inflation aren’t getting fixed by either party. Now I’m just voting for whoever has an actual, realistic plan to build more housing, regardless of their party.”
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old from Detroit said:
“Working my first full-time job completely changed my outlook. Two years ago, I was caught up in whatever national culture war stuff was trending on TikTok. Now? All I care about is union support, affordable health benefits, and making sure working people actually get paid what they’re worth.”
So do other young people feel their own personal politics have changed from 2024? And if so how? We asked them. Here’s what they told us.
