Young Voters and Women Have Already Turned Out in Record Numbers
Young voters and women have turned out in record numbers during early voting in a positive sign for Democrats.
Voting numbers are up across the board this year for a midterm election. At least 33 million people voted early nationwide, according to data collected by analysis firm Catalist, CNN reports.
And while that increase in turnout applies broadly, young and female voters have turned out in especially large numbers, and are expected to keep it up. That could help the Democrats win the House, which would be a much needed victory.
Young Voters
The 18-29 demographic is traditionally hard to turnout, especially during non-presidential elections. This year is different, however.
Prior to today, the youth vote had surpassed turnout levels from the last midterm election in just about every state, The Hill reports.
"Voters under the age of 30, relative to their '14 turnout, are outperforming every other group," Tom Bonier, a Democratic strategist with vote tracking firm TargetSmart, told the publication.
"It’s not just like a presidential year surge where you’re getting younger voters who only vote in presidentials coming out in a midterm. A lot of these young people are voting in their first election period."
Most promising for progressives is the youth vote substantially increasing in key states, like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, and Texas.
Additionally, students across the country participated in the Walkout To Vote action today, organized by the Future Coalition, a network consisting of over 20 youth-led organizations. That could help drive young voting numbers even higher.
While talk of a record-setting turnout among this group must be tempered with the reality that the youth vote being low for so long makes record setting easier, the trend is still worth celebrating.
According to a recent Harvard poll, 40% of of 18- to 29-year-olds said they would "definitely vote" in this year's midterm elections, compared to just 26% who said they definitely would in 2014. That same polling found younger voters favored the Democrats over the Republicans in Congress by 66% to 32%.
Female Voters
Female voters have also been turning out in record numbers, in another bit of good news for the Democratic Party.
TargetSmart found women outperformed men in early voting in a number of key states, and, like with the youth, that also includes states with close races, like Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas.
Trump appears to be driving women even further from the Republican Party, with a recent Pew Research Center poll found 63% of women disapproving of the job he is doing as president.
If women and young voters continue to show up to their polling stations throughout the day, it could mean Democrats finally have control of one of the branches of the federal government, and can begin to put a real check on Trump's reckless power.
Click the graphic above to learn about LGBTQ candidates running for office nationwide.
