New Hampshire: Youth Vote Results

By Ally Klimkoski, January 9, 2008

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Updated youth turnout numbers for New Hampshire and a declaration that 2008 is the Year of the Young Voter.

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UPDATE: CIRCLE has updated their numbers again after all of the ballots were finally counted. The young voter count now stands at 84,232 voters under 30.

New Hampshire was a much needed win for Hillary Clinton. And we saw a different Senator on a stage filled with young people. This was a very different group than the old throwbacks to the 90's that we saw in Iowa. Campaign staff conveyed to reporters that it was young voters who made the difference. Similarly, you saw a much more warm and fuzzy Senator who spoke extensively about "us" and "we" where before it was "me" and "my campaign."

Right now the student data I can report is that in Iowa young voters made up 22% of voters where in New Hampshire they only made up 17%.

CNN reported astounding successes for Obama in college towns and with the 18-25 year olds. But the 25-30 year old votes were evenly split between Clinton and Obama. Similarly, women who broke for Obama went for Clinton in New Hampshire.

CIRCLE's numbers report a 37% turnout for voters under 30. There is a chance it'll be higher tomorrow when all the votes are tallied but thus far over 72,000 young voters voted.

And the YD's have declared 2008 the Year of the Young Voter. Get ready ya'll this election is going to be ours!

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With such success with getting young people out to vote Young Voter PAC is doubling up to get more young people to the polls in New Hampshire too.

"Young voters played a huge role in deciding the outcome of that election and led the charge for change. We are challenging you to beat that number on January 8th when we all head to the polls.

Take the pledge on Facebook that you will be one of at least 52,580 in New Hampshire, click here.

Need help finding your polling place, click here.

If you’re a student on winter break and need gas money to help get back to your campus polling location so you can vote, click here (doc).

This weekend presidential candidate Hillary Clinton began a serious kumbaya with the primary electorate. Having been so unexpectedly trounced by independent and young voters in Iowa the Clinton team changed strategies admitting an error in judgment.

"I did very, very well with people over 45,” she told a slew of reporters at the Gala Diner in Manchester. “I didn’t do as well with people under 30, and I take responsibility for that. So I’m going to, in the next five days, do as much as I can to talk about my record in creating opportunities for young people."

This won't be an easy task as the folks over at DoubleSpeak show us in their examination into New Hampshire's youth who seem more passionate about republican Mike Huckabee and democrat Barack Obama.

New Hampshire is actually a difficult state to predict. In 2006 they saw a drop in youth voter turnout making it 45th in the nation. (CIRCLE pdf) But, the huge increase in Iowa which has scored a lot of media attention in addition to candidates actively recruiting the younger electorate might just do the trick.

As it stands in New Hampshire now - 18-29 year olds continue to prefer Obama by 42% and Clinton and Edwards are both tied at 21%. Says Rasmussen Reports

Also interesting about these young voters is their general election vote leanings. According to Rasmussen if Clinton is the democratic nominee only 51% of 18-29 year olds want to vote for her. That compared to 79% for Obama and 65% for John Edwards.

(click for larger view)

Republicans by contrast are more in favor of John McCain (29%) followed closely behind by Ron Paul (27%).

By contrast 54% of 18-29 year olds will support Giuliani if he is the nominee. 37% support Romney, 42% support Huckabee, 39% for Fred Thompson, and 51% for Ron Paul and 54% for John McCain.

One thing is for certain, they are all going to do whatever it takes in the next 24 hours. Here's to hoping young voters continue to make their mark, regardless of the candidate.

Ally has worked as staff in numerous campaigns from presidential campaigns to city council races, she has also volunteered for progressive candidates of all types. She has a personal blog and consults with and teaches skills to interest groups and activist organizations nationwide. Ally's concerns include global human rights and the ever increasing wage disparity in the US. You may contact her at Aliceschechirecat at gmail dot com.