A new study shows Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has a sizable lead among young voters, who are gathering together to fight against President Donald Trump’s re-election.
According to Essence, a poll conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics, shows 60% of 18- to 29- year-olds across the country support Biden versus 30% who support Trump. John Della Volpe, the director of polling for the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, believes the difference is due to young voters worried about the future.
“Well before COVID-19 struck, we knew this to be a generation anxious about their future. The pandemic brought these anxieties into focus,” Della Volpe, said. “In the survey, we found that stress related to debt, the cost of housing, access to healthcare, mental health resources, and concern about whether or not loved ones will survive coronavirus are the prism from which young Americans will view and engage in this campaign. Self-defense, in 2020, is one of the primary motivations for voting.”
Although this is good news for Biden’s campaign, Della Volpe warns the campaign needs to continue to appeal to young voters.
“Currently, they are giving him the benefit of the doubt,” Della Volpe said in an interview with USA Today. “There are a lot of young people who preferred Sanders, voted for Sanders, but are willing to say in a two-person matchup, they’d be with Biden right now. He cannot take that cohort for granted. And my read over his activities the last few weeks is that he’s not taking them for granted.
Although progressives Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have endorsed Biden, his primary victory was largely due to African American voters. Earlier this week Biden wouldn’t commit to appointing an African American woman as his vice president, which could hurt him. Biden also has been unclear about his stance on marijuana legalization, another factor African Americans will be paying attention to in the coming months.