Gender gap: How young voters showed up for Trump

In close races, Democratic candidates have relied on young voters to win elections. Since the 2008 presidential election, Democrat candidates received about 60% support from young voters, NPR reported. Kamala Harris did not meet this mark, receiving 54% support from voters younger than 30, early exit polls show.
As voter data streams in, experts say, overall, young people backed Harris but shifted toward Trump compared with the 2020 election. The share of young voters backing Trump was even larger among young white men.
An estimated 42% of people ages 18 to 29 voted in the 2024 election, according to an analysis from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts (CIRCLE). This share of voters is lower than the 2020 presidential election, when at least 52% of young people showed up to vote.
At the same time, about half of people ages 18 to 29 showed up to vote in swing states like Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Here’s what the most recent exit poll data says about how young people voted in the election:
Exit poll data from the National Election Pool found that voters ages 18 to 29 made up 14% of all ballots in the 2024 election.
About 17% of people in this age group casted their ballot in the 2020 election, according to CIRCLE.
Of voters ages 18 to 29, 52% voted for Harris, and 46% voted for Trump. Young people were more likely to vote for Harris compared with all other age groups, according to CIRCLE.
Gender played a significant role in the 2024 election. Young women preferred Harris to Trump, with 58% voting blue. But an even larger share of women ages 18 to 29 showed up for Biden in the 2020 election, when 65% voted blue.
A larger share of young men voted for Trump in the 2024 election compared with four years ago. About 56% voted red this election compared with 41% in the 2020 election. 
The AP VoteCast survey asked voters to choose one of nine issues as the “most important facing the country,” according to CIRCLE. About 40% of young voters said “the economy and jobs” was the most significant issue Americans face, followed by abortion and immigration.
CIRCLE reported that young voters who prioritized abortion were more likely to vote for Harris, while those who said the economy or immigration was the top issue were more likely to vote for Trump.