Kamala Harris Wins Back Young Voters in Final Weeks of Campaign: Poll

According to the final Marist poll released ahead of Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is winning back support from young voters.
Young voters have been a critical part of the Democratic coalition for decades as they typically vote at lower rates than older voters. However, heightened youth turnout can be decisive—former President Barack Obama’s 2008 landslide victory was fueled, in part, by record youth turnout.
But polls have suggested that Generation Z and Millennial voters may be less inclined to back Democrats in the presidential race. Early polls showed President Joe Biden slipping with younger voters. Meanwhile, Harris generally recovered, but some surveys still suggest she has struggled to build trust among younger voters.
The Marist poll, which was released on Monday, however, showed the vice president build back support among voters younger than 35 years old.
Harris won those voters by a 13-point margin in the latest poll (55 percent to 42 percent), her strongest showing among Gen Z and Millennials in any Marist poll released in the past few months. It surveyed 1,560 adults from October 31 to November 2. Results were statistically significant within 3.2 percentage points.
An October 8 to 10 Marist poll showed Harris only winning voters younger than 35 by three points (51 percent to 48 percent), while a September 3 to 5 poll showed her up only four points (51 percent to 47 percent) among voters under 35.
In 2020, Biden won voters between the ages of 18 and 29 by 24 points (60 percent to 36 percent) and voters between the ages of 30 and 44 by six points (52 percent to 46 percent).
Newsweek reached out to Trump and Harris’ campaigns for comment via email.
Harris has faced scrutiny from many young progressive voters who take issue with the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Harris has emphasized her concerns about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Meanwhile, some polls have suggested there could be heightened gender polarization this year, particularly among younger voters. While younger women continue leaning left, younger men—including younger Black and Hispanic men—may be shifting toward Republicans, according to some surveys.
A poll from Alliance for Black Equality showed that 35 percent of Generation Z Black men support Trump, Newsweek previously reported. It surveyed 1,500 respondents from October 15 to 19 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. Those polling numbers would mark a shift from 2020, when Trump received only 12 percent of support from Black voters, according to a New York Times exit poll.
Monday’s Marist poll showed Harris with a 4-point lead nationally (51 percent to 47 percent). Polls show a tight race in the final days of the campaign, with 538 showing Harris up 1.1 points over Trump nationally on Monday (48 percent to 46.9 percent). Most battleground remained within two points.
The Harris campaign, however, has expressed more confidence in their chances over the past week. The campaign has told Bloomberg and The Washington Post that their data shows undecided voters breaking toward Harris by “double digit margins” as Election Day inches closer.