Key facts
- A majority of young women and young men voted for Democrats in 2026, per early exit polling from Tufts CIRCLE/NORC.
- Young men swung 38 points to Democrats in 2026 after 56% backed Trump in 2024, per Tufts.
- Preliminary exit polling from CNN and other outlets found 87% of young voters said inflation caused severe or moderate family hardship.
- Younger voters were more likely than voters overall to name the economy as the top issue facing the country, per the preliminary polling.
- Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, campaigned on affordability ahead of the election.
- Jaime Payson, a 24-year-old New Hampshire voter, said the cost of living was a top concern going into the election.
Young voters moved 32 points to the left from the 2024 election in the 2026 midterms, according to a New York Times analysis of early exit polling data from Tufts CIRCLE/NORC. A majority of both young women and young men voted for Democrats, the Tufts data showed. Young men had backed President Donald Trump 56% in 2024 and swung 38 points back to Democrats in 2026, per Tufts.
Preliminary exit polling from CNN and other outlets pointed to costs as the driver. Just 1% of voters age 18 to 29 called the economy excellent and 11% called it good. Ninety percent said they were concerned about the cost of gas, 91% about the cost of food, and 87% said inflation had caused their families severe or moderate hardship. Younger voters were more likely than voters overall to name the economy as the top issue facing the country.
Candidates on both sides targeted high costs. Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, said ahead of the election that every Texan should be able to buy a home and raise a family without struggling to make ends meet. In Texas, the Democratic victor, James Talarico, said in his victory speech that his win was for every young person trying to buy a home and every parent trying to put food on the table.
In New Hampshire, 24-year-old Jaime Payson voted Democrat with the cost of living as a top concern. She said her parents' generation could buy houses young and build a life on one income, and that she is not in love with many establishment Democrats but sees them as better than establishment Republicans, a view she extended to New Hampshire's senator-elect, Chris Pappas. Nathaniel Beisheim, a 22-year-old Democrat in Massachusetts, told Business Insider that many young adults and Gen Z are having trouble pursuing the American dream.