Democrats were hoping that they could count on young voters to deliver them the Presidency, Senate, and even possibly the House, but it was never meant to be.
Not only did millennials not come out in heavy numbers for Clinton, but eight Republican senators also won a majority of young voters in their respective states across the country with various political beliefs.
In Arizona, long-serving hawk Sen. John McCain (R) won 50 percent of voters between the ages of 18 to 29 beating his Democratic rival Anna Kirkpatrick by five points, according to CNN Exit Polls.
Another senior Republican who had a lot of appeal from younger voters was Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, who won an astounding 62 percent of millennials in the Hawkeye State.
Sen. Rand Paul, the most libertarian-leaning Republican won big with 57 percent of voters under 30, proving that his ideology has a hold on millennials. Paul’s closest ally in the Senate, Mike Lee from Utah, also won a large proportion of young voters. Lee led his Democratic rival by 34 points.
Rep. Todd Young had a surprise win in Indiana where he ran against former Sen. Evan Bayh, who had big name recognition and a ton of money. The Senator-elect earned a plurality of millennial voters by three points with 47 percent.
Rob Portman, the Ohio Senator who came out years ago for gay marriage when his son came out of the closet, won older millennials between the age of 25 to 29 with 49 percent of the vote to former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s 46 percent.
The first black Senator to be elected in the former Confederacy since Reconstruction, Tim Scott from South Carolina won by double digits. He captured 54 percent of the millennial vote to 44 percent for his Democratic rival. Sadly, most black voters in the state still went Democratic by a large margin.
Lastly, and least predictable was Sen. Ron Johnson from Wisconsin who was the underdog against progressive hero and former Sen. Russ Feingold. The very conservative Republican won very young millennials between the ages of 18 to 24 by two points, 45 to 43 percent.
