In the News

From Georgia to Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, in races that came down to slim margins, young voters turned out in droves for pro-democracy candidates. And, according to CIRCLE at Tufts University, those candidates prevailed because of it.

"Outreach, contact, investment in these states was higher," said CIRCLE deputy director Abby Kiesa about key battlegrounds. "So it's not surprising that voter turnout is higher in these states."

An analysis of the 2018 midterms by CIRCLE found that young women turned out in greater numbers than young men, and that more of them voted for Democrats in that election.

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, the director of CIRCLE, said the youngest members of the 18-to-29 group had been driven to embrace politics in a way their elders had not.

According to new data shared by Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, young people were the only age group in which a strong majority supported Democrats.

"Young people absolutely did have a role in preventing that red wave from materializing as it was predicted to," said CIRCLE's elections coordinator Ruby Belle Booth.

CIRCLE estimates that 27 percent of eligible young voters cast ballots this election, the second-highest turnout for a midterm in nearly 30 years. “This is a continuation of young people showing up to do the work,” says Abby Kiesa, CIRCLE’s deputy director.

Our deputy director Abby Kiesa spoke to Arizona Public Media about the importance of voter registration and how to ensure that all young people know how to access and complete the process.

CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg talks about young people's electoral impact in the 2022 midterms.