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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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Democrats notched a series of sweeping victories in key races across the country this week, buoyed in part by surging support from young voters.
In New York City, 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani became the city’s first Muslim mayor after defeating Trump-backed independent Andrew Cuomo in a race defined by record youth turnout.
In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger secured the governorship with a decisive lead over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, while Mikie Sherrill prevailed in New Jersey following a campaign centered on affordability and public safety.
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Meanwhile, California voters passed Proposition 50, a redistricting measure championed by Governor Gavin Newsom that could flip several Republican-held congressional seats.
Together, the results point to a growing generational realignment: voters under 30 — who turned out in unusually high numbers — overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates.
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CNN Exit polls show that 70 percent of 18-29-year-olds voted for Spanberger in Virginia. And in New Jersey, 68 percent voted for Sherrill. Meanwhile, in New York, 78 percent of the youngest voters voted for Mamdani.
In California, 79 percent of 18-29-year-olds supported Proposition 50.
And while turnout figures have not yet been confirmed, early voting data from New York suggests Gen Z voters came out in droves to support Mamdani. An October Quinnipiac University poll found that 62 percent of people aged 18 to 34 years support him.
From Disillusionment to Revival
The renewed energy among young voters comes after they briefly warmed to Trump during the 2024 election. According to AP VoteCast, voters aged 18 to 29 backed Kamala Harris over Trump by just 51 percent to 47 percent in 2024, a far smaller margin than Joe Biden’s 61–36 victory among the same age group in 2020.
And Trump made huge headways among young men in particular. In 2024, 53 percent of men aged 18–44 backed him, up from 45 percent in 2020, when Joe Biden carried the group with 52 percent.
The result prompted fears from Democrats that the party had abandoned some of its youngest voters.
Former President Barack Obama addressed this sense of neglect on Michelle Obama's podcast, reflecting, "We don't think about boys and just assume they're going to be okay because they've been running the world and they've got all the advantages relative to the girls. We've made that mistake sometimes in terms of our rhetoric. Where it's like we're constantly talking about what's wrong with the boys, instead of what's right with them."
And on an episode of his podcast in May, Governor Newsom called on Democrats to “get out of our own damn bubble” and examine the social and economic forces that paved Trump’s path back to the White House in November.
“I just think we need to really have a deep introspection, and we need to own up to what has happened over the last few elections, not just this election,” he said. “I think we’ve got to square with our agenda and where the American people are.”
Meanwhile, focus groups led by centrist pro-Democratic organizations Third Way and HIT Strategies found that men aged 18 to 29 in swing states felt abandoned by Democrats during the 2024 election, saying the party had left them with "resentment and hopelessness" about their economic prospects.
"The young men in our focus groups have been feeling an economic burden that has not been meaningfully addressed—affording everyday life, getting a good-paying job to provide for their family, and being able to do better than their parents. They feel economic expectations are stacked against them as young men, especially as fewer men enroll in college compared with women—something they attribute to a lack of support from their families and communities, which often pushes them into blue collar work," the report stated.
But the most recent election results suggest that the Democratic Party has revived its appeal with Gen Z voters — even young men.
Young Men Go Blue
CNN exit polls show that men aged 18-29 are opting for the Democratic ticket in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, and are supporting Proposition 50 in California.
In Virginia, CNN exit polls indicate that Spanberger drew strong backing from younger men, earning 57 percent of the vote among those aged 18 to 29—a 15-point advantage and her highest level of support among any male age group. Support for Spanberger decreased steadily as age increased, dropping to 52 percent among men aged 30 to 44 and reaching 42 percent among men 65 and older.
Young women proved to be an even more reliable base for Spanberger, with 81 percent of women under 30 casting their ballots for her—24 points higher than their male counterparts.
New Jersey’s results reflected a nearly identical trend. Among men aged 18 to 29, 56 percent favored Sherrill, compared to 44 percent for Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Sherrill performed slightly better among men aged 30 to 44 (61 percent) before her support declined to 43 percent among men aged 45 to 64 and 45 percent among senior men. Women once again leaned heavily Democratic: 81 percent of women aged 18 to 29 backed Sherrill, a 25-point gap compared with men of the same age group.
In New York City, Mamdani achieved the night’s strongest showing among young male voters, securing 68 percent of their support. His opponents, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, trailed far behind with 26 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Among women aged 18 to 29, 84 percent voted for Mamdani, 16 points higher than men in the same age bracket, showing a smaller but still significant gender gap.
The results were similar in California, where 74 percent of men aged 18-29 voted "yes" on Proposition 50, compared to 26 percent who voted "no." But the measure's support was 9 points higher among women in the same age group, with 83 percent supporting Proposition 50 and 17 percent voting "no."
Lucas Walsh, a youth political behavior expert and professor at Monash University in Australia, told Newsweek the latest results reflected both economic frustration and renewed hope. “While we have seen Gen Z voting patterns become more volatile in their choices of parties and candidates over the past several years, on the whole, Gen Z voters continue to be attracted both to progressive platforms and shaped by financial conditions,” Walsh told Newsweek. “These elections and greater Gen Z turnout might be about voting candidates out of office rather than attraction to the Democratic Party, which still lacks a coherent narrative and strategy. But there is also something to be said for candidates who are women or from racially diverse backgrounds, which could be appealing to younger voters.”
Walsh added that “hopeful promises offered by Democratic candidates specifically, rather than the party itself,” may have helped turn a sense of disillusionment into engagement.
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