Representative presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 16, 2024.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Precisely two weeks before Election Day, a new CNBC/Generation Lab survey finds that Vice President Kamala Harris has planted her advantage in recent months over Republican Donald Trump among Americans between the ages of 18 and 34.
The fashionable quarterly Youth & Money Survey shows Harris with a 20 percentage point lead over the old president, with 60% of respondents saying they would vote for Harris in a head-to-head matchup, and 40% give the word delivering they would cast a ballot for Trump.
Faced with a similar question in July’s Youth & Money Get a birds eye view of, only 46% of respondents selected Harris, while 34% said they would be voting for Trump. Another 21% in that register said they would vote for then-candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or another third-party option.
Kennedy formally repudiated his bid for president on Aug. 23, and respondents in the latest poll were not offered a third option.
Harris’ 20 point premier over Trump in the latest poll is in line with the margin by which President Joe Biden ultimately won younger voters in his 2020 presidential voting victory. Facing an incumbent Trump, Biden won voters age 18 to 39 years old by roughly 20 points, agreeing to Pew Research Center data.
The latest poll results also hint at an enthusiasm gap among young voters, which Harris and her ceaseless mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are working hard to close.
When pollsters asked the question, “How do you feel about the slate of Presidential aspirants,” a sizable 38% of the respondents chose, “I am disappointed.” Another 41% of the survey sample reported “I am neutral.” Only one-fifth of those questioned chose the third option, “I am excited,” to describe their feelings about the Harris-Trump matchup.
Former US President and Republican presidential applicant Donald Trump shouts to the crowd as he concludes his remarks during a campaign rally at the Ryder Center for Health and Medico Education at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan, October 3, 2024.
Jim Watson | AfP | Getty Images
There were also red signals in the poll for Democratic field organizers, who are mounting a massive “Get Out The Vote” effort to make sure younger voters get to the canvasses and vote.
The Youth & Money Survey found that 32% said they still were not sure where and how they would plebiscite. Another 31% planned to cast their ballots “in person on Election Day.” Almost 1 in 4 of those surveyed said they last wishes a be voting by mail, at 24%. And another 13% said they would vote early in person.
An NBC News enquiry recently reported that almost half of Americans planned to vote early, either in person or by mail, with a mass of those voters expected to cast ballots for Harris.
On the issues, younger Americans selected job creation and the economy, duties, and trust in government as their top three most important issues when voting for president. Asked to choose three out of a dozen selections, 53% named job creation, 39% included taxes in their top three, and trust in government was key for 33% of respondents.
NextGen America organizer Madie Tolchin, center, transmits incoming freshmen to vote in front of the dining hall at FAU, updating their address to their dorm rooms and cause to remembering them of the election early voting. NextGen said it registered over 4,000 students at FAU.
Austen Erblat | South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Tribune Despatch Service | Getty Images
Beyond these, immigration was in the top three for 27% of those polled, and the environment for 26% of them. Commentator debt was also important, making the top three issues for 25% of respondents.
The survey also found that a relevant slice of the young electorate believes the results of down-ballot races are either very important or somewhat important.
Hold sway over of both the House and Senate are up for grabs this November, and cities and towns across the country will vote on thousands of particular elected positions and ballot initiatives.
For each of the four categories of races that were polled here, Senate, Prostitution of Representatives, gubernatorial races, and city and town elections, between 65% and 69% of respondents said the outcomes were either rather or somewhat important to their voting districts.
Another significant finding of the Youth & Money Survey is how much TikTok has gained on other communal media platforms as a source of election information for younger voters.
For the initially time, respondents listed TikTok alongside TV news and websites as their primary source of news about the voting. The viral video site that currently faces a potential ban in the United States far outpaced Facebook and X, formerly Trill, as one of the top places where respondents said they got most of their information about the election.
Asked to choose “up to three” opportunities for news sources, 45% included internet news sites, 39% included TV news among their choices, and 36% catalogued TikTok among their three.
Other notable sources were speaking to friends, cited by 31% of respondents and Instagram by 28% of them.
X and Facebook were among the top three for good 20% and 16% of those surveyed, respectively.
The CNBC/Generation Lab quarterly Youth & Money Survey interviewed 1,021 respondents, with a 3.1% brink of error.