Young adults have shifted dramatically toward Republicans in just 2 years, Pew polling shows



The Republican Party has enjoyed massive gains among young Americans over the span of about 21 months, according to recent polling conducted by Pew Research.

According to surveys of registered voters in August 2023, men and women in categories ranging from 18 years old all the way up to 49 years old favored Democrats.

In fact, the only two categories that leaned Republican at that time were 50-to-64-year-old males (57%) and over-65-year-old males (59%).

As of June 2025, however, young American adults have swung in the other direction en masse.

'Interesting to see the "you get more conservative as you get older" trope dying.'

The 2025 polling by Pew Research of U.S. adults, which cited the 2023 data directly below it, showed massive gains for the Republican Party, specifically among younger demographics.

For example, males ages 18-29 went from 62% in favor of Democrats to 52% in favor of Republicans.

For women of that same age group, seven more percentage points went to the Republicans, whose support rose from 30% in 2023 to 37% in 2025.

Democrats did widen a gap when it comes to women ages 30-49, though, but not through their own doing. Support for Republicans in that category dropped from 42% in 2023 to 39% in 2025.

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An interesting figure included in the polling is the percentage of respondents who said they had no political leanings or refused to answer.

For the youngest demographic, that number was 13%. The other demographics averaged between 7% and 8%.

Looking at party affiliation categorized by the decade in which Americans were born, those born between 1940 and 1980 have remained in a near 50-50 split of support for Democrats and Republicans from 2021 to 2025.

For those born after 1980, the changes have been significant.

In 2021, while 57% of those born in the 1980s identified as Democrats, that number is now 47% in 2025.

For those born in the 1990s, 59% identified as Democrat in 2021, but that number is now down to 46%.

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Photo by Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images

In response to the data, users on X shared interesting perspectives, like, "Interesting to see the 'you get more conservative as you get older' trope dying."

Another account posted, "18-29 year old men are more right wing than male Boomers[.] Did NOT expect to see that."

A tech and financial account with over 40,000 followers added that he felt it was "sad" that a younger generation is being relied on to "clean things up" after the Boomer generation "completely destroyed their birthright."

Popular conservative commentator John Doyle offered a unique explanation as to why young Americans have shifted away from Democratic politics.

Doyle told Blaze News, "We just wanted to play our video games. This is for raping the Joker and killing Hulk Hogan."

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How Harris lost the election



President-elect Donald Trump secured his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris early Wednesday morning, and exit polling indicates which demographics may be responsible.

Harris failed to drive support among voting groups like women, Latino men, and young voters, despite being historically Democratic, according to a CNN analysis comparing exit polls from the past three election cycles. While Trump was able to mobilize support among unlikely demographics, Harris' inability to secure these key groups likely cost her the election.

While different demographics shifted in Trump's favor, his greatest advantage over Harris may have been one key issue.

Although Democrats have historically secured the female vote, Harris underperformed compared to her predecessors. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the female vote by 13 points in 2016, while President Joe Biden won it by 15 points in 2020. Harris, on the other hand, won the female vote by just 10 points, according to the latest CNN exit polling.

At the same time, Trump regained an edge with male voters that slightly slipped in 2020. Trump won the male vote by 11 points in 2016 but dipped down to just an 8-point advantage in 2020, according to CNN. This time around, Trump won the male vote by 10 points.

Latino men, more specifically, also shifted away from Harris and toward Trump. Clinton won Hispanic men by a staggering 31 points in 2016, and Biden won them by 23 points in 2020, according to CNN. Trump completely reversed this trend in 2024, winning Latino men by 10 points.

Minority voters across the board also swayed in Trump's favor. In 2016, Clinton won by 50 points among minority voters with a college degree and 56 points among minority voters without a college degree, according to CNN. Biden lost some ground in 2020, winning college-educated minority voters by 43 points and non-college-educated minority voters by 46 points. Harris continued this downward trend, winning among college-educated minorities by 35 points and non-college-educated minorities by just 32 points.

Trump also gained ground among young voters. In 2016, Clinton won among voters aged 18 to 29 by 19 points, while in 2020, Biden won among the same age range by 24 points, according to CNN. This time around, Trump shrunk the Democratic advantage among young voters, with Harris winning by just 13 points.

While different demographics shifted in Trump's favor, his greatest advantage over Harris may have been one key issue.

In 2024, roughly two-thirds of voters said the economy was poor, and nearly half of voters said they are doing worse now than they were four years ago, according to CNN. This sentiment inevitably gave Trump an advantage over Harris, who has served alongside Biden during these last four years.

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