The economy was the top issue for voters within the November 2026 midterm elections, which saw Democrats win decisive majorities in each homes of Congress.
And for younger voters, whether or not in faculty or not, the financial system and jobs, in addition to healthcare, have been their prime issues, our research at CIRCLE, a nonpartisan, analysis group targeted on youth civic engagement at Tufts College, reveals.
Total, 27% of young people – that means folks ages 18 to 29 – went to the polls throughout the midterms, our Nov. 5 evaluation reveals. This marks the second-highest midterm youth voter turnout up to now 30 years, behind solely the 2018 election cycle.
As a scholar at CIRCLE who studies young people and their voting conduct, I feel it’s useful to grasp a number of the components that motivated so many younger folks to vote – and to forged their lot with the Democrats.
Understanding younger voters
Amongst youth, being enrolled as a school pupil or not didn’t make a giant distinction in who they voted for throughout these midterms.
However there are some voting pattern variations primarily based on younger folks’s instructional attainment, particularly within the hole between younger folks with an schooling stage of highschool or much less, and people with at the very least some faculty expertise and extra. These with solely a highschool diploma or much less voted Democratic by a 24-point margin, in contrast with a 42-point margin amongst these with at the very least some faculty schooling.
School college students who’re younger males additionally voted Democrat by a 24-point margin. Feminine faculty college students, in the meantime, voted Democrat at a 45-point margin. An analogous gender hole seems amongst younger voters who aren’t in faculty.
Total, this gender hole has endured at the very least since 2024, as younger girls then have been additionally voting extra Democratic than males have been.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
Newest youth voter tendencies
About 66% of younger folks ages 18-29 voted for a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Home of Representatives, in contrast with 31% for a Republican candidate, our information reveals. This marks the best proportion of help for Democratic candidates amongst all age teams.
Inside this group, 70% of younger girls voted for a Democratic U.S. Home candidate within the midterms, versus 59% of younger males.
Partisan tendencies amongst younger voters have fluctuated over the previous few a long time – in 2000, for instance, 49% of younger folks voted Democratic, whereas 48% voted Republican.
In 2026, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black and Latino younger folks gave Democrat candidates the strongest help, at 81%, 79% and 71%, respectively. By comparability, 61% of white younger folks voted for Democratic Home candidates, with 36% voting Republican.
Younger individuals are targeted on the financial system
Throughout race, schooling, revenue and geographic location, younger folks overwhelmingly indicated that the financial system and jobs was their prime concern on this election.
Healthcare and the Iran war additionally confirmed up as areas of significance for younger voters. All three of these issues are related to younger folks’s issues about the price of residing.
We discovered that voting preferences did fluctuate based on how younger folks seen their very own monetary circumstances, a sample that held amongst faculty college students.
Low-income college students have been extra possible than their prosperous friends to vote for Democrats.
The problems that matter most to younger folks have shifted significantly over the previous a number of years.
In 2020, we have been seeing totally different teams of younger folks prioritize social issues like racism, local weather change and gun management.
In 2022, we started to see young people prioritize the economy – their concern about inflation was the second-most necessary concern to them after abortion.
Now, after the economy, healthcare was ranked second for younger voters. The third-most necessary concern was the warfare in Iran. That is putting, as a result of up to now, we’ve polled younger voters about international coverage points just like the warfare between Israel and Palestinians and the warfare between Russia and Ukraine. Younger folks have by no means actually ranked these different international coverage points as a prime space of concern.
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On the sidelines
Youth voter turnout typically tends to be a lot weaker in midterm elections than in presidential elections. In 2018, there was 28% turnout for young people – a midterm turnout that was significantly larger than 2014, when solely 13% of younger folks turned out to vote.
Campaigns appear to acknowledge that younger voters are typically much less politically engaged. For instance, our analysis reveals that throughout the 2024 presidential election cycle, greater than 1 in 3 younger folks have been by no means contacted in regards to the election. Amongst these without college experience, 48% were never contacted.
Our analysis nonetheless reveals that faculty college students face logistical barriers to voting.
Younger individuals are frequent movers, which implies they could have to reregister each time they alter addresses. The truth that faculty college students could also be residing on campus whereas they’re registered to vote from their mother and father’ handle also can create problems.
School college students still have more voting information than younger people who find themselves not in faculty. However in contrast with different age teams, younger folks obtain much less voting info – making their turnout within the 2026 midterms all of the extra outstanding.