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Young adults turning more Democratic?


Young adults have connected more with the Democratic Party since 2006, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.

Every year since, a majority of 18-to-29-year-olds have identified themselves as Democrats or said they lean Democratic, Gallup said.

Last year, 53 percent of young adults aligned themselves with the Democratic Party. Just over a third, by contrast, identified as Republican or said they lean Republican. 

{mosads}Young people have typically affiliated themselves with Democrats, Gallup notes. 

Over the last eight years, however, the average gap in favor of the Democratic Party among young people has been 18 percentage points. 

Their movement toward the party might be a result of the demographic becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, Gallup said.

The polling organization estimates 54 percent of young people in the U.S. are white and 45 percent are nonwhite. In 1995, 71 percent of the age group was white and only 29 percent was nonwhite. 


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In 2013, nearly two-thirds of nonwhites aged 18 to 29 were Democrats or leaned that way, while a quarter of them identified as Republicans or leaned toward the GOP.

The new survey came just days after Gallup released a separate poll that found senior citizens — people 65 and older — have realigned themselves with the Republican Party.