Clinton's margin with millennials is even bigger than Obama's was in 2012

After a dismal start with young voters, Hillary Clinton seems to have finally won them over. A new poll by the Harvard University Institute of Politics released Wednesday shows Clinton leading Donald Trump by 28 points with voters between the ages of 18 and 29, with 49 percent support to his 21 percent. That winning margin puts Clinton ahead of where President Obama polled with millennials at this stage of the 2012 election; Obama, who was historically popular with younger voters, led Republican nominee Mitt Romney by 19 points two weeks ahead of Election Day 2012.
"After eight years of a complicated relationship with millennials, in the closing days of the campaign, Hillary Clinton is closing strong," said John Della Volpe, the institute's polling director. "Her favorability with 18- to 29-year-old likely voters is up significantly since the summer, and the combination of her strong debate performances, and failure [of] both Trump and the third-party candidates to expand their bases, gives her a lead of 28 points."
Clinton is now 22 points ahead of where she was in a poll Harvard took in July among young voters, and her favorability rating has similarly soared. Clinton is now viewed favorably by 48 percent of young voters, compared to the just 22 percent who view Trump favorably.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Harvard's poll was conducted online from Oct. 7-17 among 2,150 U.S. citizens between the ages of 18 and 29. Its margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - May 10, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and more
-
5 streetwise cartoons about defunding PBS
Cartoons Artists take on immigrant puppets, defense spending, and more
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipe
The Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment