Millennials still lean toward the Democratic party, but not to the levels they did during the last presidential election, according to a Harvard University Institute of Politics poll released Wednesday.
Whereas 55 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds prefer the Democratic party, 40 percent lean toward the Republican party. Should this 15-percentage-point gap stick through 2016, it will represent the narrowest split of its kind since the 2004 presidential election from which President George W. Bush emerged victorious, according to the Washington Examiner.
A significantly higher share — 60 percent — of Millennials supported President Obama in the 2012 election than do currently prefer the Democratic party. Obama was even more exciting to young Americans during his first presidential campaign when he won 66 percent of their votes.
What’s the problem with the current crop of Democrats? Well, it just might be Hillary Clinton.
An overwhelming 47 percent of liberal Millennials name the former secretary of State as their top choice ahead of the 2016 presidential election, indicating that Clinton is the favorite, albeit the inevitable favorite.
The only other Democratic candidate who scores in double digits — 11 percent — among liberal Millennials is Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has insisted repeatedly that she will not seek the nomination for president.
Alas, a Millennial population resigned to a Hillary Clinton candidacy is not as excited about the Democratic party as it has been in several past elections, indicating that Republican candidates — of whom there are many more options — have the chance to make 2016 an extremely tight and potentially successful race for their own party.
No individual GOP contender has yet emerged as a favorite among the party’s Millennial voters. Dr. Ben Carson is favored by 10 percent of young Republicans, while Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (8 percent), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (7 percent) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (7 percent) follow closely behind.
Perhaps most shocking about the position of Republican candidates is the fact that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — who announced his campaign two weeks ago and is shaping up to be the youngest 2016 contender — only secures 2 percent of the vote among conservative Millennials.
The poll, which was conducted between March 18 and April 1, also found that more Millennials identify as Independents than do Democrats or Republicans, meaning that the votes of many young Americans are largely up-for-grabs for either party.
