Gen Z voters were among those who helped President-elect Donald Trump soar to victory in this year's presidential election. An Associated Press exit poll shows youth voters, ages 18-29, backed Trump more than they did in the 2020 election.
The poll indicates that nearly half, 46% voted for him over Vice President Kamala Harris — that's up from 36% in the last election.
Historically, voters under age 30 have played a crucial role in tight elections, often giving Democrats an edge. However, in this year’s presidential election, Trump made notable strides with young voters.
Jonathan Wharton, advisor for the College Democrat and College Republican student groups at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) in New Haven, said this shift occurs with each new generation. When younger voters tend to support a candidate who comes across as charismatic, as opposed to strictly aligning themselves with a party.
Wharton refers to this as the "charisma effect," a term many political scientists use to describe how charismatic leadership can influence voters.
Wharton said “whether for good or bad,” Trump benefited from this advantage. And that young voters are typically driven by one major issue that causes a ripple effect in their decision-making.
“They tend to follow the trends of more about a candidate than they are about a political party,” Wharton said.
Crossby Dessalines, a member of College Democrats at SCSU, said despite his personal feelings about Trump, he believes he understands why his message resonated with a lot of young voters.
"He was really focusing on very big, broad, general problems that whether you're in New York or you're in Montana, your first thought is, 'How do I take care of myself?” Dessalines said. “And how's the economy doing? How much money is in my pocket? How much this, this and that. Versus Harris. She focused on, I guess, very niche issues or problems that not every single American would."
One of the major issues that Harris focused on that Trump seemed to distance himself from was protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Tomas Gilbertie, president of the College Democrats group at SCSU, said he remains in a state of shock over Trump's reelection and fears for the safety of people in the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups under a renewed Trump presidency.
“I'm scared for the rights of people being taken away, as well as just the realities of young people,” Gilbertie said.
Trump stated multiple times during his campaign that he intends to dismantle the Department of Education.
Gilbertie said some students on campus are already expressing concern.
“I know I was talking with one of my members, and he particularly said that the threat of the Department of Education being taken away is going to affect him, because that takes away FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid),” Gilbertie said.
Dessalines said he relies on FAFSA to attend school and that these potential changes could jeopardize his ability to continue his education.
Dessalines is also worried that his siblings and future generations of immigrants might be affected.
“He’s taken away that right to be natural citizens here. I also don’t know if they’ll have access to quality education, since he’s planning to eliminate the Department of Education and leave it to the states,” Dessalines said.
While Dessalines is apprehensive about living through another Trump era in America, he has his theories on why Harris lost and why Trump gained appeal among Gen Z voters and working-class Americans.
He believes Trump’s campaign focused on broader issues that resonated with the concerns of most Americans, whereas Harris took a more niche approach. Dessalines also noted that he believes Trump’s tactics to gain support from Gen Z and working-class voters were deceptive.
“Most average Americans don’t even understand tariffs. Trump addressed broad issues that resonated with many, but misled them about how he would tackle these problems or if he’d follow through,” Dessalines said. “For example, he promised to fix the economy while imposing tariffs, and to protect rights while planning to strip them away."
Wharton also noted many young people are unaffiliated voters due to their mistrust in the government, thus making them vote for a more populist candidate.
Connecticut Public made several attempts to contact members of the College Republicans club at SCSU. However, members of the club declined to respond.
