Gen Z, Trump, and the US midterm election

With the US midterm election results, Democrats celebrated a narrow victory over Republicans. This was after a Democratic senator won in the state of Nevada, ensuring that Democrats would at least keep a 50-50 majority in the Senate, with VP Kamala Harris holding the deciding tie-breaking vote.

The win for Democrats came after the Republicans had hoped for a ‘red-wave’ coming up in the election. The red wave was reportedly largely halted by Gen Z voters in particular.

Gen Z voters make up 10% of eligible voters. Some 87% of Gen Z voters of colour were found to support abortion rights, an issue associated with the Democrat party. Meanwhile, 65% of Gen Z voters overall reported that abortion access was an important part of their decision to go vote.

President Joe Biden told reporters last week…

“They voted to continue addressing the climate crisis, gun violence, their personal rights and freedoms, and the student debt relief.”

An estimated 27% of people aged 18-29 (meaning both Gen Z and millennials) cast their ballot in this year’s midterm election, making it the second-highest youth turnout in any midterm vote

Despite the win for Democrats, Donald Trump claimed last week that he was “not at all angry” about the midterm election results. He said the election was “somewhat disappointing,” but also that it was “a very big victory.”

Trump is expected to announce his run for president in the 2024 race tomorrow, despite a relatively poor showing for his Republican Party in the US midterm election last week and dealing with several lawsuits. Will Trump be able to appeal to Gen Z voters on the issues they care about? We’ll see…