Can Kamala Harris Win Over Gen Z Voters?

Vice President Kamala Harris, now the clear front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, may need strong support from Gen Z voters if she hopes to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.

Many Gen Z voters, a group that includes those ages 18 to 27, will be casting their first ballots in this year's election. While younger voters have historically supported Democratic candidates more often than Republicans, some polling of a still-hypothetical Trump-Harris contest has suggested that the coming election could be different.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted from July 19 to July 21, ending on the day that President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, found that Trump was leading the vice president by a massive 19 points, 58 percent to 39 percent, among voters ages 18 to 34—which includes Gen Zers and some millennials.

However, polling on a Trump-Harris matchup has been limited and some surveys reveal wildly different results. A Civiqs tracking poll conducted over two weeks through July 21 found that voters ages 18 to 34 prefer Harris over Trump by 20 points, with 57 percent of respondents favoring Harris and 37 percent backing Trump.