Young voters are moving toward Harris and feeling less ‘meh’ about voting

A new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris outperforming Donald Trump in swing states among registered voters 30 years old and younger in data shared first with Semafor.

The survey, conducted by Change Research for Investing in US, an investment fund, found Harris leading Trump by 24 points. Harris also surpassed President Biden by 20 points, compared with a similar poll last June comparing Biden, Trump, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Max Lubin from Kismet Research, who worked to develop the survey of 2,228 urban and suburban voters from July 22-24, attributed the bump to online engagement. “I think outside groups have a role to play in reaching young voters online with some of the fun and innovative tactics that we’ve seen so far,” he said.

Sixty-one percent of young voters in swing states said they were more likely to urge their friends to vote if Harris is the nominee, including 70% of Democrats. “I also think what’s clear in this poll is President Harris is exciting a whole audience of youth that might have otherwise stayed home in November if she was not the candidate,” Lubin said.

Harris’ message on reproductive freedom also seems to be a factor among younger voters. The poll shows 68% of voters find the message of enshrining reproductive rights convincing.

Young voters continue to feel negative about politics and voting with 53% choosing “anxious,” 43% “fearful,” 38% “overwhelmed,” and 37% “angry. But “hopefulness” has risen from 23% to 30%, with “meh” trending downward from 30% to 23%.