ADA, OH (WLIO) - Young voters have been credited with stopping the red wave that Republicans were hoping for in the general election last week, but as Nathan Kitchens tells us this rising demographic can not be ignored in the future.
The Ohio Northern Institute for Civics and Public Policy says that Gen Z voters were an unexpected force in the November 8th election. The group is categorized as being born after 1997 and according to national data, voters between 18 to 29 years old had around 27% voter turnout last week. Compared to around 20% in past elections for the same age group.
"Gen Z had a huge role in kind of closing that gap that Republicans were expecting to have in taking seats in the Senate and the House," says Hailey Trimpey, senior at Ohio Northern Institute for Civics and Public Policy. "Since it was an off year, Republicans were expected to have this huge turnout and huge outcome, and Gen Z and some of the millennial voters have definitely closed that gap."
"Abortion and inflation were kind of the two big issues that dominated. But seeing how abortion was a very Gen Z, Millennial issue, and how that led them to shift pretty much predominately Democrat that is a very significant thing that we will have to consider when it comes to the presidential election in 2024," says Caleb Clayton, junior in Ohio Northern Institute for Civics and Public Policy.
These results could be a wake-up call for political parties and polling moving forward.
"It is less likely that young voters will be misunderstood or even underrepresented in polling. Because obviously, we see that this has had a significant impact on the way that midterms actually turned out," adds Clayton. "So, trying to anticipate that turn out better or to understand those effects."
And the Ohio Northern Institute for Civics and Public Policy says that younger voters will have a bigger voice in future elections.
"Since Gen Z and millennials will outnumber the older generation in the 2024 elections that it's definitely going to have an impact on the results," adds Trimpey.
Time will tell how political parties will adapt to winning over the younger generation of voters.
