Americans under the age of 30 — a key group that helped propel President Obama’s 2008 election to the White House and his re-election in 2012 — say they want Democrats to keep control of the White House after the 2016 elections.
Fifty-five percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 prefer that a Democrat wins the White House in 2016, compared to 40 percent who want to see a Republican win, according to a survey released Wednesday by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.
By comparison, exit polling showed that Mr. Obama won the 18-to-29-year-old vote by a 66 percent to 32 percent margin in 2008 and by a 60 percent to 37 percent margin in 2012.
Eighty-seven percent of young African-Americans and 68 percent of Hispanics prefer a Democrat, while 53 percent of young whites prefer a Republican and 41 percent prefer a Democrat.
As for who potential Democratic primary voters want their nominee to be, 47 percent chose former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 11 percent and Vice President Joseph R. Biden at 8 percent.
The survey also showed that among 18- to 29-year-olds overall, Mr. Obama’s job approval rating has increased seven percentage points in the past six months, from 43 percent in October to 50 percent.
It increased among all major subgroups, including a 16-point jump among Hispanics, from 49 percent in October to 65 percent in the survey.
The survey of 3,034 18-to-29-year-olds was taken from March 18 to April 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
