Tom Steyer, the former 2020 presidential candidate, said Friday that he’s seeing the same kinds of numbers and enthusiasm among young voters as in 2018, when 18-to-34-year-olds helped power a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House in the midterms.
Mr. Steyer said 65% of young voters who already voted in 2020 didn’t vote in 2016, and 29% are voting for the first time ever.
“So this really is a surge of youth vote that we are in the process of and we’ll see how it plays out over the next four days,” he said. “But we’re seeing something that is a continuation of ’18 and is extraordinary.”
Mr. Steyer was speaking as part of a polling release from his NextGen America political group.
The survey found that among registered voters ages 18-34 in battleground states, Joseph R. Biden had a 27-point, 58% to 31% lead over President Trump — a slightly larger margin than their polling from last month.
In November 2016, Hillary Clinton had held a 21-point, 56% to 35% lead over Mr. Trump among definite voters in battleground states.
“Young voters like Joe Biden much more than they did earlier this year,” Mr. Steyer said. “Mrs. Clinton never really made clear to them or brought home to young voters her substantial differences with Donald Trump.”
Mr. Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist, said climate change has been key for young voters in opting for Mr. Biden over the president.
“We have four days to go to finish the deal,” he said. “I think it’s been an extraordinary effort. I think it’s a continuation of ’18.”
Mr. Steyer suspended his campaign in late February after staking his 2020 bid on a strong showing in the South Carolina Democratic primary.
He ended up as the third wheel in one heated post-debate confrontation between Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Mr. Steyer has also poured millions of dollars into Democratic causes over the years.
The NextGen America survey from Global Strategy group was among 1,000 registered voters ages 18-34 in Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas.
The survey was taken from Oct. 20-28 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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