TAMPA, Fla. — The latest data from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy shows the next generation of voters may not be heading to the polls in 2024.
Almost half of 18–29-year-olds said they “definitely” plan on voting for president in 2024. That’s down from 57% from the fall of 2019.
During the 2020 election, the turnout of voters under 30 was about 50%. But in an election where every percentage point could make the difference in the outcome, even the smallest drop matters.
“Voters really don’t believe in the political system,” said Ryan Binkley, who is running for president as a Republican.
Binkley admitted he’s a long shot, but he’s also spotlighting on the campaign trail what he considers to be an alarming trend: a younger generation not just turned off by politics but completely disengaged in a system they feel simply doesn’t care about them.
“I think they want people that are going to solve problems. A lot of them are dealing with inflation, the cost of tuition. Many of them are getting out of college. They're not getting great job offers right now, and a lot of them have to live with their parents. So, I think there's just a lot of frustration, and they're looking at all the division we have, and they're saying, hey, no, thank you,” explained Binkley.
Binkley believes the Republican Party could suffer the most from this.
“When you looked at the last election, I think 65% of college students voted for Joe Biden. And last election, when you look at 18 to 25, you get a little bit past them. It's probably 60%. And he's definitely got an edge,” he said. “And I think it's time for us, the Republican Party, to really start connecting to young people."
“Republican Party has made a big mistake of not really connecting to urban voters as well as college students," Binkley continued. "You know, we lost 46 of the top 50 cities by population, meaning we're not really connecting to these big cities."
The same poll also found that President Biden holds an 11-point lead over former President Trump in a hypothetical matchup among voters under 30.
You can see the full poll from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy here.
