A recent survey taken this summer by Monitoring the Future shows 23% of 12th grade boys (17-18 year olds) identify as conservative, around the highest levels recorded in the study’s forty seven year history. Data trends compiled over time by the Roper Center show younger voters shifting to the right at the presidential voting level over the past decade. A December 19th poll by the New York Times and Siena College found President Trump leading Biden by 49% to 43% among voters aged 18 to 29, an age group not won by Republicans at the presidential level since 1988. In 2013, Gallup had the share of 18-29 year old men identifying as Republicans at 38%. That number has risen to 49% in 2023.
This profound shift in the political and ideological views of young Americans can be attributed to a lot of factors which are currently affecting Generation Z. This is a group of new Americans which has dealt with Democrat-imposed lockdowns in their schools, a rise in crime making their communities unsafe, and the rising cost of rent, homeownership, and the goods they buy from the supermarket every week.
The ever increasing number of young conservatives in America creates an opportunity for Republican leaders to activate them, empower them to create change in their local communities, and further spread the America First conservative message to others in their age group.
To do this, Republican leaders need to understand what young conservatives are craving within the Republican party right now in terms of branding, vision, and policy. As recent polling and data suggest, they want President Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024, and they want his America First vision to be the ideological framework for the GOP at large.
Polling research from Echelon Insights earlier in 2023 shows that a majority of Republicans aged 18-29 consider themselves primarily supporters of Donald Trump, as opposed to being supporters of the GOP at large. Across all of Echelon’s polls dating back to the beginning of 2023 when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was near even with Trump in polling, Trump has enjoyed support from either a plurality or an outright majority of Republicans aged 18-29.
Conservative youth organizations are responding accordingly. On January 10th, the College Republicans of America announced their endorsement of President Trump for the Republican nomination by way of committee vote. CRA was established last year and has already grown to become the largest national College Republican organization in the country, representing hundreds of actively conservative college students across multiple states, including swing states like Arizona and Wisconsin.
With young conservative individuals and institutions solidly supporting Trump and his agenda not only for the 2024 election but also as a framework for the Republican Party at large, expect the incoming generation to push conservative politics in that direction as they continue to enter the political system in the coming years.
