Researchers conduct voter survey of millennials

Millennial students at Simpson College (IA) and RABA Research recently published the results of under-30 voters in the U.S. about the upcoming presidential election for 2016.

The three-day online survey discovered that for young voters, Democrat Hillary Clinton is surpassing Republican Donald Trump by 23 points, amounting to Clinton with 49 percent and Trump with 26 percent. Furthermore, Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 5 percent of the voters, and Libertarian Gary Johnson has 11 percent. A remaining 10 percent of voters remain undecided about the political candidates.

“Despite media reports earlier this year of younger voters being wary of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee currently enjoys a margin of support among these voters equal to Barack Obama’s final margin in 2012,” Brad Anderson, Democratic RABA partner, said. “Our survey finds that young people are not gravitating to third party alternatives, nor are they overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton’s debate discussion of issues important to younger voters -- from immigration to civil rights -- may have really broken through. And Donald Trump’s latest string of outrageous comments may be motivating young voters more than ever to back the Democratic nominee.”

The survey shows that 58 percent of young voters believe in “white privilege,” with 60 percent of young voters supporting immigration reforms.

“We find that in contrast to a downbeat campaign, young voters of both parties are overwhelmingly optimistic about their economic prospects,” Professor Kedron Bardwell, chair of Simpson’s political science department, said. “What draws millennials strongly toward Hillary Clinton and away from Donald Trump, however, is not economics but young voters’ very progressive views on racial equality and immigration.”