Pollster: Environment, income inequality drive Sanders support among young voters

Pollster Terren Klein says the environment and income inequality are the key issues that are attracting young voters in both Iowa and on a national level to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. 

Klein, who is the CEO of polling website College Pulse, noted Tuesday that college students tend to be more ideologically driven, compared to other voting demographics, and vote primarily on issues. 

“When we ask college students what issue is important to them in determining their vote, the number one issue by far is the environment,” Klein told Hill.TV. “In Iowa, it trends roughly the same — it’s still the top issue.” 

“What we do see is income inequality by far the second-most important issue among Iowa college students,” he added. 

Sanders leads the 2020 field among Democratic and Democratic-leaning students both nationally and in key early voting states like Iowa.

According to the Chegg-College Pulse weekly tracker, Sanders tops the Democratic primary field with support from 41 percent of young voters, which marks a 6-point gain since November.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) remained in second place at 21 percent among college students, dropping 3 points since November. Former entrepreneur Andrew Yang ticked up 1 percentage point to 12 percent. 

South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden each received 8 percent support.

This race is tighter in Iowa, where Warren trails Sanders by 6 percent among college students. A separate Chegg-College Iowa poll released last Tuesday shows Sanders in the No. 1 spot with 35 percent support among the state’s college students. Warren follows with 29 percent support.

Buttigieg collected 19 percent support, putting him ahead of Yang’s 9 percent. Biden, meanwhile, came in at just 5 percent.

Klein also pushed back against the notion that college students are not politically active. He predicted that they will be key to whoever wins November’s election, noting that they could be a factor in states like Iowa, where he estimates that one in every six Democratic voter is a college student.

“When you’re looking at the sheer quantity, we should give them the respect like we would any other demographic of that size and pay attention to them,” Klein told Hill.TV.

—Tess Bonn