Writing in the Los Angeles Times this Friday, Janet Hook points out that Republicans are "on the losing end of one of the biggest demographic shifts of the last 20 years," namely Millennial and Gen Z voters who identify with the Democratic Party.
In an attempt to close the gap, Republicans are aggressively courting conservative youth, but it's gearing up to be an uphill battle.
"Republicans are at a big disadvantage among young voters — Democrats in 2020 won their support by about 25 percentage points — in part because a majority believe progressive policies best address their economic needs," Hook writes. "Anti-immigrant rhetoric from top GOP leaders, coupled with support by white nationalists, didn't help with the most racially diverse generation in U.S. history: About 45% of millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) and nearly half of Gen Zers (born after 1996) are people of color, compared with 30% of baby boomers."
Its true that Donald Trump's arrival to the political scene galvanized a lot of young conservatives, but polls suggest that Millennial and Gen Z Republicans identify less with Trump and are more moderate than older Republicans.
Longtime GOP pollster Whit Ayres explained to the LA Times that "any message that sounds intolerant of diversity and intolerant of people who are not white is a nonstarter with the vast majority" of young voters.
Read the full report over at The Los Angeles Times.