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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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Young Americans are supporting the Republican Party in greater numbers, a new poll has found, highlighting a large divide among people aged under 30.
According to a new Yale Youth Poll, a survey affiliated with the Yale Institution for Social and Political Studies, voters aged 18 to 21 lean Republican by 11.7 points when asked who they would support in the 2026 Congressional elections, while voters aged 22 to 29 favored Democrats by 6.4 points.
Why It Matters
Young people traditionally vote for Democrats in elections, but a conservative shift among Gen Z voters helped President Donald Trump secure the keys to the White House in November 2024. If this trend is sustained, partisan realignment could hamper the Democrat's chance of success in future elections and bolster the Republicans instead, reshaping American politics.
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What To Know
The Yale Youth pollsters surveyed 4,100 registered voters between April 1 and April 3, including an oversample of 2,024 voters aged 18 to 29. The margin of error was +/- 1.9 percentage points for the full sample and +/- 1.8 percentage points for the youth subsample.
It found that Vice President JD Vance was the most popular figure among Republicans with a net favorability rating of +65 overall and +54 among Republican voters under the age of 30. Over 53 percent of Republicans would support Vance if he stood in the 2028 GOP primary, the poll found.
Among Democrats, 27.5 percent would vote for former Vice President Kamala Harris if the 2028 Democratic primary were held today. She has a +60 favorability rating.
Meanwhile, recent AtlasIntel polling showed Trump's approval rating among 18– to 29-year-olds had climbed to 52.7 percent in February.
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However, attracting voters won't be plain sailing for Republicans. A recent CBS News poll conducted with YouGov found that more people now disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy than those who approve, with 44 percent favorable and 56 percent disapproving of his policies.
What People Are Saying
David B. Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron in Ohio, told Newsweek in a 2024 interview: "Young voters compose a crucial part of the Democratic base, and if that is eroding, where do they make up for that? Going forward, Democrats will have to figure out how to bring young voters back to the fold—particularly young men—if they want to be competitive nationally."
Arjun Warrior, a data scientist for the Yale Youth Poll said: "Politicians often promise things to young voters and reach out to young voters, but they can't do that if they don't have an understanding of what young voters believe and where young voters are. That's why polls like this are really important because they provide insight—albeit imperfect insight, but insight nonetheless—into what young voters believe."
What Happens Next
In November 2026, Americans will vote in the midterm elections.
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