Support truly
independent journalism
A new poll shows some baby boomers and members of the Silent Generation are switching allegiances from former President Donald Trump to Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Emerson College poll released Thursday shows voters over 70 backing Harris over Trump 51 to 48 percent. That’s a small but positive shift for Harris, as last month, 50 percent of the group supported Trump while 48 percent backed President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris last month.
The group includes some baby boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, and the Silent Generation, born between 1925 and 1945.
Older voters had so far this cycle remained in Trump’s column, carrying on a long-standing tradition among seniors to support the Republican Party. The party has won voters over the age of 65 in every presidential election since 2000. In 2020, about 52 percent of voters in that age category voted for Trump, Newsweek noted.
But that trend could now be changing. In May, a New York Times/Siena College poll found Biden leading among older voters against Trump, 48 to 45 percent.
The executive director of Emerson College Polling, Spencer Kimball, said in a press release on Thursday that “Likely voters under 30 have shifted toward Harris by nine points, 56 percent of whom supported Biden, 65 percent now support Harris. Voters over 70 also support Harris over Trump, 51 percent to 48 percent — last month they broke 50 percent to 48 percent for Trump.”
“Independents break for Harris, 46 percent to 45 percent, flipping since last month when likely independent voters broke for Trump 45 percent to 44 percent,” he added.
As many as 93 percent of voters said they were extremely or very motivated to vote in the election on November 5.
Kimball noted that the share of Black voters who are very or extremely motivated to vote went from 80 to 91 percent over the course of the last month.
Fifty-one percent of voters said they have a positive view of Harris, while 49 percent said they have an unfavorable view. Those same numbers for Trump were 45 percent favorable and 54 percent unfavorable.
When it comes to Harris’s running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, 39 percent of voters have a favorable view. The same number has a favorable view of Trump’s number two, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
But 49 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of Vance while only 39 percent have an unfavorable view of Walz.
The Emerson College poll was conducted between August 12 and 14 and included 1,000 registered voters.
