Harvard poll: 62% say US heading in wrong direction; NYT survey shows 70% of young voters back Democrats — up 15 points from 2024 presidential election

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before boarding Marine One on Thursday (local time). [AP]
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before boarding Marine One on Thursday (local time). [AP]

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Two-thirds of American voters in their 20s — members of Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012 — say they plan to vote against President Donald Trump, according to new polling.

The Harvard Public Opinion Project, a polling body under Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, released the findings of its youth poll on Thursday (local time), as reported by Axios.

Among voters aged 18 to 29 surveyed, 63 percent said they would cast their ballot to oppose Trump, while only 14 percent said they would vote to support him. Some 77 percent said they do not support Trump's economic policies — a view shared by more than half of young Republican voters.

Among Democratic-leaning respondents, 50 percent said they would vote, compared with 34 percent of Republican-leaning respondents.

The survey also revealed deep anxiety and frustration among young voters about the future. Some 62 percent said the United States is heading in the wrong direction, while only 9 percent said it is on the right track — the lowest figure ever recorded in Harvard's youth poll series.

Respondents identified rising prices and the cost of living (79 percent), the power of large corporations (68 percent) and the trade war (68 percent) as the most serious threats to their future financial stability.

For the first time, more respondents expected to be worse off economically than their parents' generation (27 percent) than better off (25 percent). Asked whether they feel hopeful or fearful about America's future, 69 percent said fearful, compared with 26 percent who said hopeful — more than a two-to-one margin.

A separate poll by The New York Times showed a similar trend.

According to the NYT-Siena College survey, 70 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 said they support or lean toward the Democratic Party — 15 percentage points higher than a poll conducted just before the 2024 presidential election, and comparable to levels seen during the 2008 presidential race that brought Barack Obama to the White House.

"In the last presidential election, young voter support for Democrats hit a 20-year low, but this poll shows those voters are returning to the party in large numbers two years on," The New York Times said in its analysis.

The Democratic lean among voters in their 20s stands out compared with other age groups. Support for Democrats rose 5 percentage points among voters aged 30 to 44, and 2 points among those 65 and older, while voters aged 45 to 64 showed no change.

Only 16 percent of voters in their 20s approved of Trump's job performance. The group also held strongly negative views on the economy and the war with Iran. Some 94 percent said economic conditions were poor or merely fair, 86 percent opposed Trump's economic policies, and 87 percent opposed the war with Iran.

"Young people generally have lower turnout and make up a smaller share of the overall electorate, but even small shifts in support and participation can decide outcomes in competitive districts," The New York Times noted.

The Harvard youth poll was conducted by the Harvard Public Opinion Project in partnership with Ipsos from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7, surveying 2,024 people aged 18 to 29. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.61 percentage points for the full sample and plus or minus 3.19 percentage points for registered voters.

The New York Times poll was conducted from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19 among 3,494 adults nationwide, including 536 respondents aged 18 to 29, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.


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