CNBC:
A record-breaking 159.8 million Americans voted in the 2020 election.
And a record-breaking number of those votes went to President-elect Joe Biden, who received over 78 million votes — roughly 5.5 million more than Donald Trump.
Generation Z, who are currently between the ages of 8 and 23, played a significant role in both of these records. NBC exit polls suggest that 65% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 voted for Biden — 11% more than any other age group.
And in states like Georgia and Pennsylvania, young voters proved to be key to Biden's success.
"I've been doing demographic analysis about the changing American electorate for two decades," says Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN (previously known as the New Democrat Network) and the New Policy Institute. "53% to 55% of registered 18 to 29-year-olds appear to have voted. That may be the highest ever recorded in the modern era of politics."
[...]
What makes Gen Z unique
Bill McClain, research director for Clean and Prosperous America has spent significant time analyzing the political attitudes of Gen Z voters. He says the issues most important to these young voters are "defeating the coronavirus, jobs and the economy and climate change."
But he adds that what makes this generation unique, is how they approach issues as interconnected.
"What's interesting to me in reviewing all of our research and listening to younger voters is that they recognize the intersectionality of all of these issues," says McClain. "All of these issues are interwoven and young voters tend to take a more progressive attitude towards addressing each one of these issues."
Gen Z's racial demographics also make them unique.
[...]
While young people have long had a reputation for leaning left, Rosenberg says Gen Z's political preference is not a passing phase.
"There's a great myth in life that young people are liberal when they're young and then they're more conservative when they get older. And that's actually not true," says Rosenberg. "Twenty years ago, 18 to 29-year-olds were 50/50 for Bush and Gore. It was dead even. There wasn't a Democratic lean to young people in that era. And now, there's sort of a substantial democratic lean in every election by between 10, 15 and then up to 35 points."
He continues, "There's been a structural shift where young people are much more Democratic than they used to be."
The question is, how permanent is this shift?
"I think the real question for younger millennials and Gen Z is will the Republican Party ever be able to re-establish itself as a legitimate option?" asks Rosenberg. "Of course, the opportunity is there, but the combination of racial intolerance and sort of backwardness on climate, the way that Trump handled the protests and the rallies this spring and summer, I mean, Trump really was the sort of the antithesis of a lot of Gen Z and younger millennial values."
"I think there's still a lot of opportunity for competition for the Republicans going forward. They have a lot of attractive candidates who may run in 2024," says Bowman, also noting that Republicans have an opportunity to appeal to young Hispanic voters given Trump's success in Florida. "That being said, I still think the group will lean heavily Democratic."
McClain emphasizes that this election should indicate to politicians the importance of reaching out to young voters.
"Younger voters are not contacted at the rate that old guys like me are contacted. So if we don't invite them to the party, we cannot expect them to turn out. I think candidates and campaigns are waking up now to the fact that young voters are engaged," he says. "And they're the future of the country."
[...]
And that is it in a nutshell - they're the future of the country. Actually, how they get treated by the government and the economy define the future. For now it appears neither of the two parties, in their joint monopoly over politics, has a compelling care to treat the young decently; deep pocket donors being the priority for the party insiders who call the shots and enjoy the benefits, Dem and GOP.
At any rate -
Most recent (2020) presidential election exit polling.