These young voters don't want a Donald Trump, Joe Biden rematch … – USA TODAY
EXETER, N.H. – Mateusz Kudra and Adrienne Kane, both 22, traveled to New Hampshire to watch former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley answer voters’ questions last week at a town hall forum hosted by Seacoastonline and the USA TODAY Network.
Kudra, a graduate student at Northeastern University in Massachusetts and a registered Democrat, said he and Kane want to hear from candidates across the political spectrum heading into the 2024 presidential election. But he said he was “sold” on Haley following her first Republican primary debate performance in August.
“(She) definitely cemented herself as a top three choice,” Kudra said, adding that his other picks are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a now-independent candidate, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Like many constituents in the purple first-in-the-nation primary state, young voters from New Hampshire and the surrounding area told USA TODAY last week that they’re still weighing their options ahead of 2024.
But Haley appeared to appeal to young, moderate voters searching for an alternative to a rematch between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden next year.
Kane, an economics major at Bridgewater State University and a registered Democrat, said she’s still evaluating candidates. But she said Haley’s “down-to-earth” nature and approach to abortion resonated with her.
“I just respected the way that she viewed her pro-life status, where you don’t discriminate because of other different views,” said Kane, who noted that she supports abortion rights.
Haley has long supported additional abortion restrictions in the United States, but she has repeatedly said Americans “need to stop demonizing” the issue. She has also argued that Republicans should be honest with Americans when proposing a national abortion ban, especially as Democrats continue to control the Senate.
If young voters are eyeing Haley as a presidential pick, it wouldn’t mark the first time they’ve said they’re not necessarily lining up behind Trump, the 2024 Republican frontrunner. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has found favor with some young hardline conservatives in the South.
But the next generation of voters increasingly searching for a more moderate approach say they like what they see in Haley.
“In a period of deep political polarization, with two kind of radical sides of each party, I really appreciate somebody that has the ability to be a mediator, somebody that can work with both bipartisan parties,” Kudra said.
And other young voters flocked to Haley’s town hall in Exeter to press her on the issues that matter to them, asking her about how she would address the nation’s debt and her vision for young Americans.
“Look at it from a younger person’s point of view,” Haley told the crowd. “I know that because my kids are 22 and 25. They don’t watch the news on TV because they think both sides are crazy, and I don’t know that they’re wrong.”
Over half of millennial voters identified as independents ahead of last year’s midterm elections, according to a Gallup poll from August 2022. A Harvard Youth Poll from April found that 43% of voters 18 to 24 years old and 47% of those in their late twenties lean towards a moderate ideology.
Vera Aimunmondion, a 17-year-old high school student, will be able to vote in a presidential election for the first time in November 2024. Still unaffiliated with any party, she said she, like many of her peers, is researching all of the 2024 White House hopefuls.
“I’m just trying to discover,” Aimunmondion told USA TODAY after attending a town hall with former Vice President Mike Pence. “I have my beliefs about the type of life I want to live, and I’m also a Christian. But I still don’t know politics-wise.”
Aimunmondion, who is from New Jersey but attending school in New Hampshire, said she and some of her fellow teenage classmates are taking opportunities to hear directly from candidates who frequently visit the Granite State on the campaign trail.
“I’m trying to be a more politically active citizen and just aware of the mindsets and the beliefs and core values of the people that are going to be leading this country,” she said.