Younger Americans overwhelmingly support Harris — but both Harris, Trump have room to grow: Poll

(WASHINGTON) — Young voters overwhelmingly support Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House, according to new polling out Tuesday from the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.

In fact, Harris now has a resounding lead with adults under 30, dominating former President Donald Trump by 17 points, 46% to 29%, per the poll, in a five-way matchup that includes some third-party candidates. That gap widens among registered voters, and the gulf is largest among likely voters — Harris leading among likely voters under 30 years old with 61% to Trump’s 30%, the poll found.

Each candidate still may have room to grow support among this demographic, however: in that matchup, 18% of adults under 30 said they don’t know yet who they’ll vote for.

In a head-to-head matchup, Harris has the support of 54% of adults under 30, while Trump has the support of 33%. Around one-in-10 said they don’t know yet.

“In just a few weeks, Vice President Harris has drummed up a wave of enthusiasm among young voters,” Harvard Public Opinion Project chair Anil Cacodcar said in a statement. “Harris is enjoying a perfect storm of personal appeal, policy support, and positive reach on social media.”

Harris’ gains come as her campaign and many top surrogates have worked to reach the country’s youngest voters, in part by joining TikTok, and engaged in non-traditional interviews, including participating in WIRED magazine’s popular interview video series.

Her campaign account “Kamala HQ” has amassed a serious following online, with over 4.5 million TikTok followers. Her personal account boasts more than five million followers as well.

Trump and his campaign have also attempted to reach younger voters. The former president’s personal TikTok account reaches 11.4 million followers — and he’s been a guest on several high-profile influencer podcasts, in part to pitch himself to young men.

Harvard’s polling data also indicated signs of a gender gap in Harris’ support. Although a majority of adult men and women under 30 still support Harris, women support the vice president by much higher margins.

Among male likely voters, Harris has 53% support while Trump has 36%; among female likely voters, Harris has 70% support while Trump has 23%, according to the Harvard IOP poll.

The groundswell of under-30 support follows a summer of Harris-friendly memes and internet phenomena, alongside a number of high-profile celebrity endorsements, the preeminent blessing from pop mega-star Taylor Swift, who backed the Harris-Walz ticket hours after the ABC News presidential debate.

The Harvard IOP poll also asked younger voters about who they trust more on a host of issues.

Among the full sample of adults ages 18-29 polled, Trump leads, albeit within the margin of error, by 1 percentage point on the economy and by a few on immigration, national security and defense, and the Israel-Hamas war. Harris leads with a more than 30-point margin on climate change and abortion, with a smaller lead on some other issues.

The poll was conducted by the Harvard IOP and Ipsos from Sept. 4-16, in the field both before and after the ABC News presidential debate on Sept. 10. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 2.65% for the full sample of U.S. residents ages 18-29; the likely voter margin of error is +/- 3.63%; and for registered voters the margin of error is +/- 3.08%.

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