Younger Americans overwhelmingly support Harris — but both Harris, Trump have room to grow: Poll
Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Young voters overwhelmingly support Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House, according to new polling out Tuesday from the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.
In fact, Harris now has a resounding lead with adults under 30, dominating former President Donald Trump by 17 points, 46% to 29%, per the poll, in a five-way matchup that includes some third-party candidates. That gap widens among registered voters, and the gulf is largest among likely voters — Harris leading among likely voters under 30 years old with 61% to Trump’s 30%, the poll found.
Each candidate still may have room to grow support among this demographic, however: in that matchup, 18% of adults under 30 said they don’t know yet who they’ll vote for.
In a head-to-head matchup, Harris has the support of 54% of adults under 30, while Trump has the support of 33%. Around one-in-10 said they don’t know yet.
“In just a few weeks, Vice President Harris has drummed up a wave of enthusiasm among young voters,” Harvard Public Opinion Project chair Anil Cacodcar said in a statement. “Harris is enjoying a perfect storm of personal appeal, policy support, and positive reach on social media.”
Harris’ gains come as her campaign and many top surrogates have worked to reach the country’s youngest voters, in part by joining TikTok, and engaged in non-traditional interviews, including participating in WIRED magazine’s popular interview video series.
Her campaign account “Kamala HQ” has amassed a serious following online, with over 4.5 million TikTok followers. Her personal account boasts more than five million followers as well.
Trump and his campaign have also attempted to reach younger voters. The former president’s personal TikTok account reaches 11.4 million followers — and he’s been a guest on several high-profile influencer podcasts, in part to pitch himself to young men.
Harvard’s polling data also indicated signs of a gender gap in Harris’ support. Although a majority of adult men and women under 30 still support Harris, women support the vice president by much higher margins.
Among male likely voters, Harris has 53% support while Trump has 36%; among female likely voters, Harris has 70% support while Trump has 23%, according to the Harvard IOP poll.
The groundswell of under-30 support follows a summer of Harris-friendly memes and internet phenomena, alongside a number of high-profile celebrity endorsements, the preeminent blessing from pop mega-star Taylor Swift, who backed the Harris-Walz ticket hours after the ABC News presidential debate.
The Harvard IOP poll also asked younger voters about who they trust more on a host of issues.
Among the full sample of adults ages 18-29 polled, Trump leads, albeit within the margin of error, by 1 percentage point on the economy and by a few on immigration, national security and defense, and the Israel-Hamas war. Harris leads with a more than 30-point margin on climate change and abortion, with a smaller lead on some other issues.
The poll was conducted by the Harvard IOP and Ipsos from Sept. 4-16, in the field both before and after the ABC News presidential debate on Sept. 10. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 2.65% for the full sample of U.S. residents ages 18-29; the likely voter margin of error is +/- 3.63%; and for registered voters the margin of error is +/- 3.08%.
(WASHINGTON) — While the presidential race may be getting the spotlight this election season, key regulations, laws and policies are on the ballot in several states.
And those ballot measures could have huge ramifications for the rest of the country.
Forty-one states have a combined 147 ballot measures in the 2024 election. While some measures are hyperlocal, some state initiatives dovetail with national topics.
Here are some of the major ballot initiatives in this election.
Reproductive rights
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, voters in a handful of states have turned to ballot measures to enshrine or expand reproductive access in the face of abortion bans.
Ten states in this election season will give their voters a chance to change their laws on the topic.
Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Nevada all have measures that would amend their state constitutions with specific language to protect or recognize the right to an abortion for all constituents.
Nebraska also has another ballot measure that would change the state constitution to prohibit abortions in the second and third trimesters except for cases of “medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest.”
New York state has a ballot measure that would change the constitution’s equal rights amendment to protect against discrimination for pregnancy outcomes, including abortion.
South Dakota voters will decide on a measure that would establish a right to an abortion and add an amendment to the state constitution that would determine when the state may regulate abortions.
Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly called for the restoration of the reproductive rights established by Roe v. Wade.
Former President Donald Trump, who has taken credit for helping overturn Roe v. Wade, has said on the campaign trail that the states should decide abortion access and indicated he will vote “no” on Florida’s ballot initiative.
Illinois voters will decide on a measure that would advise state officials on whether to provide for medically assisted reproductive treatments, including in vitro fertilization, to be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides full coverage to pregnancy benefits.
Immigration, voting rights
Even though it is already illegal for non-documented immigrants to register to vote and cast a ballot in federal and state elections, some leaders in states have been pushing laws and measures to prohibit those groups from casting ballots in local elections.
A handful of municipalities have passed laws allowing some noncitizens to vote in certain local races. For example, non-U.S. citizens who have children attending public schools can vote in school board elections in San Francisco, following a 2016 ballot measure.
This year, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin have ballot measures that would prohibit noncitizens from voting in state and local elections.
Proponents have argued these laws would secure elections and prevent localities from allowing non-Americans to vote.
However, opponents have emphasized that non-American citizens cannot vote in state and federal elections and the ballot measures are moot.
Six states have already passed ballot measures banning noncitizens: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio.
Ranked choice voting
Under a ranked-choice voting system, or RCV, voters cast a ballot ranking their candidates. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the No. 1 ranking, they win the election.
If no candidate receives that 50% majority, the election goes into an instant runoff.
Election officials will look at the ballots and eliminate candidates with the fewest number of No.1 rankings. The ballots that listed the eliminated candidate as the top choice are then re-examined.
The candidates ranked No. 2 on those ballots are tallied, and those votes are transferred to the remaining candidates. The process continues until one candidate reaches the 50% majority.
Alaska and Maine are the only two states in the nation that hold their state and federal elections using RCV, but that could change after this election.
Nevada and Oregon have ballot measures to change their state and federal elections to RCV. The District of Columbia also has a ballot measure that would change local elections to an RCV method.
Missouri would ban the method if its voters pass a ballot measure that also includes banning noncitizens from voting.
A ballot measure in Alaska would repeal its laws that mandate RCV for state and federal elections. Voters approved a measure in the 2020 election with 50.55%. Two years later, the method came under the national spotlight when an instant runoff decided the Senate race.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent who did not have the support of Republicans following her vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, went on to win the election following the first elimination round.
Republican-controlled legislatures in 10 states -Tennessee, Florida, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma- have passed laws in the last four years banning RCV from all elections.
LGBTQ+ rights
Voters in a few states will decide on state changes for laws and regulations concerning LGBTQ+ rights.
Colorado and Hawaii voters will vote on a ballot measure that would change their state constitutions to change language and allow same-sex couples the right to marry.
A measure in South Dakota would change male pronouns in the state constitution to gender-neutral terms or titles.
California voters will decide whether to repeal Prop 8, the 2008 voter measure that banned same-sex marriages. The law became invalid after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that same-sex marriages were constitutional.
Other major ballot measures
Marijuana laws are potentially up for change in two states this election season.
Florida and South Dakota both have ballot measures that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21. This is South Dakota voters’ third time deciding on the matter in four years.
Voters approved a measure in 2020 to legalize recreational cannabis, but it was struck down by a lawsuit a year later. In 2022, a ballot measure to legalize marijuana failed to pass.
Arizona has a voter initiative that would change state laws to allow for state and local police to arrest noncitizens who cross the border unlawfully and allow for state judges to order deportations.
A North Dakota ballot includes an initiative that would require future ballot measures to be passed by voters in two consecutive elections before it’s approved.
Colorado voters will decide on a measure that, if passed, would levy a 6.5% excise tax on the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition. Tax money would go “to fund crime victim services programs, education programs, and mental and behavioral health programs for children and veterans.”
Kentucky has a ballot initiative that would amend the constitution to enable the General Assembly to provide state funding to students who attend private schools.
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans had mixed reactions to President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services in his administration.
Kennedy has been an anti-vaccine activist and founded the Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine nonprofit that has campaigned against immunizations and other public health measures like water fluoridation. Medical experts expressed concerns about a rise in medical misinformation through Kennedy’s candidacy.
HHS oversees major health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among others.
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., raised concerns about the pick, saying, “Well, all my kids are vaccinated and I hope he’s not going to move against one of the most life-saving technologies in the history of the world.”
Asked if Kennedy was the right choice, Duarte responded, “I don’t know.”
“I’d like to see more of his opinions and more of his thoughts in different matters, but the anti-vaccine mantra scares me a lot,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction from senators, who would vote on Kennedy’s nomination.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise didn’t clearly answer a question about his reaction to the selection of Kennedy, noting only that Trump was moving “fast” with his nominations.
“Clearly President Trump is moving fast to get as many people appointed as possible. It shows he’s carried through on the mandate the voters just gave him. To lay out his cabinet. To get to work,” Scalise said.
Scalise evaded a question about his position on the vaccine misinformation that Kennedy has espoused: “Ultimately, President Trump’s agenda….” Scalise pivoted.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, laughed when asked for an opinion, saying “It’s the president’s prerogative. I am not a senator.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the news “fantastic.”
“Robert’s a friend now for a few years, we’ve been talking a lot,” Roy said.
Roy said there’s a need to be “disrupting the corruption” in federal health agencies, which he expects Kennedy to accomplish.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., celebrated the news: “Oh my gosh, I’m so excited.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., called Kennedy’s selection a “great pick.”
“Good pick on the president’s part, as all of them have been, and he’ll do a good job,” Norman said. “People say, ‘Well, he’s a Democrat.’ Look, he’s got an interest, he’s got an interest, a passion for the medical field. He’ll do a good job in it.”
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, took a more moderate position on the selection of Kennedy.
“I don’t mind disrupting. I mean, clearly, I think sometimes these big agencies get into some group think and I think it’s perfectly healthy to have some conventional wisdom challenged. Clearly, the Senate’s going to want to understand what is his vision for the agency,” Johnson said, adding that he wants to understand more about where Kennedy’s “scientific background is.”
Asked if he trusted Kennedy on public health, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. said “absolutely,” adding that “I think we need to broaden our horizons a little bit.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris indicated in a “60 Minutes” interview out Monday that she could get her economic policies through a Republican-controlled Congress, despite the potential for opposition from Republican lawmakers to her proposed tax breaks that drive up the federal deficit.
In a clip of the interview released Monday, “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker pressed Harris on how she would pay for the policies, which include tax breaks for small business owners, parents and first-time homebuyers.
“How are you going to get this through Congress?” Whitaker asked.
“You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I’m talking about because their constituents know exactly what I’m talking about; their constituents are those firefighters and teachers and nurses,” the vice president responded.
The “60 Minutes” interview, which will air in full Monday night, is the second time in recent weeks Harris has been asked to describe how she would fund her policies.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle asked her in an interview last month, “If you can’t raise corporate taxes, or if GOP takes control of the Senate, where do you get the money to do that?”
“Well, but we’re going to have to raise corporate taxes. And we’re going to have to raise — we’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share,” answered Harris.
The vice president speaks often about her economic plans — a key voter issue in the election — while on the campaign trail, too. Her plans are geared toward helping working-class Americans as she tries to gain ground on an issue, which surveys suggest former President Donald Trump is winning.
In an economics-focused speech last month in Pittsburgh, Harris touted a “pragmatic” vision for the economy, saying she would be “grounded in my fundamental values of fairness, dignity and opportunity.”
Harris, though, is likely to face continuing questions about her plans to fund her ideas.
In another pre-released exceprt of the “60 Minutes” interview, Whitaker challenged Harris on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanahu is “listening” to the Biden administration’s urges to defuse tensions in the Middle East.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris said.
Asked if the United States has “a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Harris responded, “I think, with all due respect, the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”
Harris’ “60 Minutes” interview is part of a flurry of interviews she has set for this week, including with “The View,” “The Howard Stern Show” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” a senior campaign official said.
Her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, also has a media blitz planned this week with stops at “Jimmy Kimmel Live” as well as being part of the “60 Minutes” interview.
Both Harris and Walz will spend time campaigning out West this week with stops in Nevada and Arizona, according to the senior campaign official.
