Young Independents: Diverse, Disaffected, and Doubtful of their Vote's Power

Young people have historically been less likely than older adults to be affiliated with one of the major political parties. That trend continues leading up to the 2026 midterm election: In our The 50 Million report, based on a joint pre-election youth survey conducted with When We All Vote, 43% of youth (ages 18-29) told us that they do not identify as either Democrats or Republicans. A smaller but still significant number of youth, 22%, are “true independents” who say they do not even lean toward either party. In this analysis, we seek to understand the experiences of these young independents, what matters most to them, and how to engage them.

About the Survey: When We All Vote and CIRCLE jointly developed a 30-question survey designed to capture key attitudes and aspects of Gen Z’s political engagement. Embold Research fielded the survey to a sample of 5,549 adults ages 18-29 nationwide, and it was conducted between January 26 and February 12, 2026. The sample included oversamples of Gen Z adults identifying as Black or Latino, as well as oversamples of the same populations within specific states of interest. The modeled margin of error for this survey is +/- 2.5%. A detailed accounting of the methodology, including an important note about several questions in which respondents could choose multiple answers, is available in the full initial report.

Young Independents are Diverse and Having Financial Trouble

Like youth overall, young independents are a diverse group in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and whether they identify as LGBTQ. Half of independents are youth of color, compared to 57% of Democrats and 31% of Republicans. Fifty-one percent of independents are young women, compared to 60% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans. About one in five independents identify as LGBTQ, compared to 37% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans. 

There is a notable difference when it comes to education: young independents are much more likely (40%) to say they have no college experience compared to both young Democrats (22%) and young Republicans (32%).

Young independents were also more likely to say they are struggling financially (69% vs. 58% of young Democrats and 51% of young Republicans) and that they are dissatisfied with their lives (44% vs. 29% young Democrats and 22% young Republicans). Previous CIRCLE research has highlighted that young people’s financial situation and sense of overall well-being are linked to their likelihood to vote, and that holds true for young independents as well.

Regardless of financial situation, young independents are less likely to say they’ll vote. Only 38% of young independents said that they were extremely likely to vote in the upcoming 2026 election, compared to 68% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans. Only 37% of young independents said they believe that their vote matters.

There are some important differences among young independents by race/ethnicity, gender, and educational experience. Young Black independents are the most likely to say they are “extremely likely” to vote in 2026 (44%), and young Latino independents the least likely to say so (36%). As with youth overall, there is a major difference by education: 45% of young independents with college experience say they’re extremely likely to vote, compared to just 27% of young independents who have not attended college. Notably, independent young men (41%) are more likely to vote than independent young women (33%). Among youth overall, the opposite is true: young women are more likely to vote.

Taken together, these findings and our previous research suggest that young independents are not necessarily best described as a politically and ideologically distinct group that does not feel at home in either the Democratic or Republican Party. Instead, many young independents appear to be a more civically disengaged group that faces significant barriers like lack of political efficacy.

Worried about the Economy and the Country

About two-thirds of young independents believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction (70%). That is lower than young Democrats (81%) but much higher than young Republicans (23%). Young independents are also concerned about many of the same economic issues as young Democrats and young Republicans. All young people, regardless of their partisan identification (or lack thereof), say that the cost of living/inflation is their top issue coming into the 2026 election.

All four of young independents' top-four issues are economic: cost of living/inflation, healthcare, housing, and jobs are the other three. While young Democrats and Republicans also prioritize these economic issues, their top-five concerns include abortion and racism (for Democrats) and immigration and free speech / religious freedom (for Republicans). This suggests that young independents are even more focused on economic concerns than their party-identified peers.

Some notable differences among young independents underscore their diversity of views, identities, and experiences. Young AAPI independents are much more likely than youth of other racial/ethnic groups to prioritize LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare, and education/childcare. They are also the only group of youth that does not choose inflation/cost of living as their top concern. On the other hand, young Black independents are even more likely to be focused on the cost of living than their peers; they also prioritize issues like housing, student debt, and voting rights/democracy more.

Young independent women prioritize issues like abortion, healthcare, and racism more than their male counterparts. Young independent men, on the other hand, care more about inflation, foreign policy, and free speech than young independent women. Young independents with and without college experience have the same top-three issues: cost of living/inflation, healthcare, and housing costs.

While young independents share many issue priorities with their Democratic and Republican peers, there is a big difference in how they react to those concerns and across political participation. While youth who affiliate with a political party are more likely to translate their issue concerns and discontent with politics into action, young independents are much more likely not to engage at all.

Nineteen percent of young independents say they don’t participate in politics because they’re just not interested—compared to 5% of young Republicans and just 2% of young Democrats. In addition, 16% of young independents say they don’t currently participate but they might if politics were different—compared to 7% of young Republicans and 4% of young Democrats. That means, overall, more than a third of young independents report that they are not currently engaged politically. On a separate question that asked respondents what would make them participate more in politics, young independents were also much more likely than young Democrats to say “nothing” would make them engage more.

There are a handful of notable differences on these questions by race/ethnicity. For example, young AAPI independents were much more likely to say that they want to participate in politics but difficulties in their life are holding them back. It is unclear why these barriers are so salient for AAPI youth, but it could be related to their concerns about issues like education and childcare. They were also more likely to say that seeing changes in their community based on their vote would motivate them to get more involved. For young Black independents, their top potential motivator for increased participation was having better candidates.

Young independents are also much more likely to say that their political views have not shifted in recent years: 43% said so, compared to 33% of young Democrats and 25% of young Republicans. That could mean young independents are more likely to hold steadfast in their beliefs, but it may also be a sign of political disengagement if they are not involved in some of the conversations and actions that are driving their peers’ ideological shifts. Notably, very few young independents say they have become more conservative (4%) as opposed to more liberal (15%) or moving toward the center (17%). Young independents are also the most likely to say their views have changed “in some other way,” which also underscores that they may not feel their views are represented by either major party.

Young independent women (53%), young independents without college experience (52%), and young Latino independents were especially likely to say that their views have stayed the same. Young AAPI independents were most likely to say that they have moved toward the center (35%), and young Black independents the most likely to say their views have changed in some other way (31%).

We also examined young people’s political media sources by party identification. Young independents do not differ substantially in their preferred news sources compared to young Democrats and Republicans, but there are some small differences. They are slightly more likely to say they turn to YouTube and Facebook than young Democrats, and slightly more likely to say they turn to TikTok than young Republicans. Conversely, independents are less likely than Democrats to turn to online news or major TV networks. In keeping with their broader patterns of political disengagement, young independents appear less plugged in to traditional news sources, and more likely to rely on relationships for political information. 

Engaging Young Independents Key to 2026 Midterms

In some respects, young independents are largely aligned with their Democratic and Republican peers. They believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and they are especially concerned about the economy. They want better, more responsive candidates and elected officials, as well as reforms to the system that reduce the influence of money in politics. At the same time, young independents are less likely to have college experience and more likely to be struggling financially. Those struggles are often linked to political disengagement, and young independents are less likely to vote and more likely to say that nothing would make them participate more.

These issues speak to the need for more holistic, supportive, and nonpartisan ways to get youth involved in civic life. To reach many young independents, those opportunities and outreach need to take place beyond college campuses. Because young independents are not necessarily plugged into traditional political information sources, including on social media, we must tap into the personal and community connections that young people turn to when they want to learn about politics. We must also pay special attention to groups like young independent women and young Latino independents who may be even less engaged than their peers. Understanding their major issues, motivators, and reasons for engaging—or not—by listening to diverse groups of youth outside of partisan structures can be key to strengthening their participation.