The GOP has long unfairly been stereotyped as a party for old white men by its critics.
Long-standing beliefs typically portray younger voters as more liberal compared to their parents, with conservatism rising among older age groups. However, a New York Times/Siena poll found that nothing could be further from the truth.
A poll of 1,374 respondents found a roughly equal split among Republican, Democrat and independent voters with approximately 30% in each category.
37% of women are registered Democrat compared to just 21% of men, according to the poll. 35% of male respondents identified as Republican (29% for women) while men were also more likely to be independent voters by a nine percentage point split.
And, most surprising of all, as Michael Tracey notes, is that the demographic that now identifies most with Democrats are voters age 65+ (with only 37% identifying with Democrats), while the demo that identifies least with Democrats is voters age 18-29 (of which only 22% identify with Democrats).
Meanwhile, Republicans get an identical 37% support from the age 65+ demographic, and 26% support in the 18-29 demo.
Whenit comes to voter enthusiasm, those age 65+ were also the most enthusiastic about the upcoming election, correlating with their support for Donald Trump. While party identification is now identical for both parties in the 65+ demo, Trump is pulling more support overall than Harris.
Younger voters have historically supporter Democrats, and this polling doesn’t necessarily mean that’s going to change in 2024, because a large share of the 18-29 demo is likely unaffiliated but left-leaning.
That being said, Harris is on track to receive significantly less support from the younger demo that Biden. When looking at voters under age 35, Biden won that demo by 21-points – but polling right after Harris was made nominee showed she’d only win that demo by 9 points. Bear in mind the “honeymoon effect” was live during that poll.
Many on social media were surprised by the Democrats’ continued support among older voters.
Others noted the trend among younger voters.
