Young voters helped power Georgia Democrats. Can the party deliver?
Georgia Democrats rode to victory in last week’s midterms on a blue wave fueled in part by increased participation among the state’s youngest voters as a growing share of older residents opted to stay at home.
Turnout rates among Georgians 34 years old and younger jumped compared with the 2022 midterm election, with voters from 18 to 24 having the largest increase, as that segment surged by 6%.
That increase overwhelmingly benefited Democrats in the state’s races for U.S. Senate and governor, with Sen. Jon Ossoff and Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms grabbing 70% of the youth vote, while turnout among Georgians 35 and over fell compared with 2022.
The Peach State’s numbers are on par with national trends. Nationwide, voter turnout among voters under 30 was the second-highest recorded for a midterm election in three decades, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a nonpartisan, independent research organization at Tufts University.
The nonpartisan research organization also found that young voters — particularly white and Hispanic men — shifted significantly toward Democratic candidates after supporting President Donald Trump and other Republicans in 2024.
But young voters’ significant shift toward Democrats both in Georgia and nationally means increased pressure to deliver for party leaders.
Élise Wade, president of Young Democrats of Georgia, attributed the surge to frustration over the cost of living, the war in Iran and other federal-level policy decisions that have had a negative impact at the local level.
“(Young voters) want to see changes,” Wade said. “What (we’ve) been seeing the past few years under Republican control has not been what we’re looking for.”
Wade said the increase in youth turnout was driven in part by younger candidates for down-ballot races.
In Gwinnett County, voters last week elected 22-year-old Ben Culberson as the youngest person to serve on a county commission in Georgia history, as he unseated Republican incumbent Matthew Holtkamp.
“We’re not giving our vote to someone that is 65 years old that we never met before,” she said. “I’m giving my vote to someone that has been around and believes in the same things that I do.”
Gwinnett County Democrat Jyot Singh, 27, is the first Sikh American and first Indian American elected to serve in the General Assembly. Singh said social media has put the nation’s political issues directly in front of young voters — many of whom were gearing up to visit the polls for the first time.
“They’re seeing it up front,” he said. “Young folks are actually seeing the message where they’re at, on social media, digital ads, streaming TV.”
Singh joins a growing coalition of younger politicians across Georgia. Last year, state Rep. Muhammad Akbar Ali become the youngest member under the Gold Dome after winning a special election for his seat at 21-years-old.
Singh said young voters expect the change they voted for.
“Now we actually have to earn that trust if we want to retain our Statehouse majority, our governorship, our statewide ticket and get a Democratic president in 2028,” Singh said. “We have to earn that trust by delivering.”
Eli King, president of the Young Democrats of UGA, said young voters are looking for a more affordable and sustainable future.
“Students and young people alike do not enjoy the uncertainty of whether or not they’ll be able to own a home,” he said. “They’re concerned with their day-to-day survival, and they’re also concerned with their well-being 10, 20, 30 years from now.”
He added that young people are also increasingly behind the scenes of some of the biggest campaigns and leading voter outreach efforts.
“I don’t think it’s ludicrous to want a seat at the table if we’re doing all this work to help make change,” King said. “We want to be in the room where change is actively being made in the Georgia State Capitol.”
For young organizers, the work is far from over.
“There’s still more seats that we’re coming for in two years. The work is not over, the work is not done and the energy is definitely not done,” Wade said. “I have never seen this much groundswell support just overnight.”