Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump did well in the third iteration of Super Tuesday, but the youth vote split from the general electorate.
Hillary Clinton claimed victory in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina; Donald Trump in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina; and John Kasich in his home state of Ohio. (Missouri remains too close to call, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump leading Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz by .2 percent, respectively). The youth results, however, did not necessarily follow that trend, as exit polls show.
Trump shell-shocked Marco Rubio in his home state of Florida, forcing him to suspend his campaign. Young Republicans were divided on the result, however. Rubio earned 33 percent of the aged 18-29 vote to Trump’s 36 percent.
In Missouri and North Carolina, the youth vote rejected Trump. Ted Cruz managed to win almost half of voters aged 18-29 and 30-44, capturing 48 percent from both groups in Missouri. While Trump won North Carolina, Cruz won among younger voters. Voters aged 18-29 and 30-44 voted for him, 41 and 42 percent respectively. Among those under 30, he beat Trump by 10 percentage points.
Kasich won every age group in Ohio. His most popular age group, and the one which he managed to win a majority of voters, was among those aged 25-29. Kasich captured 60 percent of their vote.
Clinton didn’t win due to adoring young Democrats. In Florida, voters under 30 went for Sanders 65 percent to Clinton’s 34 percent. The age group made up only 17 percent of Floridian voters, but still shows young people flock to Sanders.
In Illinois, millennials almost ruined Clinton’s night. Hillary beat Sanders by less than 2 percent, but voters under 30 overwhelmingly preferred Sanders: he earned 86 percent of their votes, and 58 percent of voters between 30 and 44.
The Missouri results remain too close to call, but if Sanders delivers an upset, he’ll have to thank millennials. Again, youth voters turned out for Sanders in droves. He captured 78 percent of voters under 30 and 61 percent of those between 30 and 44.
The Democratic exit polls break down age more specifically. Among those 17-24 in North Carolina, Sanders handily won the age group with 81 percent. He also won those 25-29 with 65 percent, and 51 percent of those 30-39.
In Ohio, Sanders once more won those under 40. He had 87 percent of voters aged 18-24 and 76 percent of those 25-29, as well as 57 percent of those 30-39.
