Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio won the Iowa youth vote — taking 27 percent and 24 percent, respectively, according to NBC News exit polls. Both candidates turned out voters from college campuses and among young professional communities, posting significantly more younger supporters than anyone expected.
Before the caucuses, Senator Rand Paul and Donald Trump were primary considered the favorites among young Iowans. Trump lived up to what Red Alert reported: Trump’s supporters are an older crowd.
Rand Paul, on the other hand, overplayed his youth support before the caucuses to the point of embarrassment. He came no where close to hitting his goal of turning out 10,000 students. Paul risked a lot on the premise that young voters were under-polled; it appears that premise was exaggerated. And while he fared better with young voters than with the overall electorate, he lost the expectations game.
Going forward, Rubio has a distinct advantage over the field among younger voters because, not only is he polling well among the primary voters, but he’s also polling best among younger general election voters. Rubio should sell this as a strength; mathematically, if he ties with Hillary Clinton among younger voters (which is what the polls show), that would result in a landslide GOP victory.
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12.23.2024