The Republican party saw a disappointing election when the predicted red wave failed to hit this midterm season, and researchers say Gen Z voters were a big push behind the Democratic party.
Youth voters had the second-highest turnout this midterm election in the past 30 years, with an estimated 29% of voters aged 18 through 29 casting their ballot, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Around 63% of youth voters voted for the Democratic party, with 55% of voters over 65 supporting the Republican party, according to an exit poll by CNN. While the latter age group had the larger voter turnout, John Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Insitute of Politics, said young voters managed to cancel out the older generation’s vote.
While it is still too early to tell which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives, projected winners in key states Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania show the Democratic party will have control of the Senate.
The Democratic party currently holds 50 seats in the Senate, which gives them control of the chamber with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote. Currently, Mark Kelly (D) is projected to win in Arizona and John Fetterman (D) is projected to win in Pennsylvania.
Catherine Cortez Mastro (D) is projected to win in Nevada in a marginally tight lead against her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, according to the Associated Press.
The Democrats have also made large strides in gaining seats in the House of Representatives, where political experts continuously revise predictions of each party’s control in the chamber.
Democrats currently hold 200 seats in the House, with Republicans holding 211, according to the Washington Post; however, the NBC decision desk predicts the Democratic party will hold 216 seats and Republicans 219 (4 +/-).
Gen Z not only showed up to the polls, but one of them also managed to get elected into the House of Representatives.
Representative-elect Maxwell Frost (D) for Florida’s 10th congressional district made history as the first Gen Z to win a seat in Congress at the age of 25. Frost, who was the national director of March for Our Lives, plans to push for gun control, reproductive rights and climate control in Congress.
He even received a phone call from another fellow Democrat, President Joe Biden, congratulating him on his victory.
“What that shows me is that there’s a lot of hope and promise in this nation as young people are starting to rise up and really step into their political power,” Frost said, in an interview with ABC news.