Poll: Young seeking leaders from their generation

WASHINGTON — Young people are looking for a change this election season — a generational change.

A poll by the Associated PRESSNORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MTV found that most Americans ages 15 to 34 think voting in the midterm elections gives their generation some say about how the government is run, and 79 percent of this group say leaders from their generation would do a better job running the country.

“These older Congress people, they don’t understand the internet and they don’t know what they’re talking about,” said Greg Davis, a 29-year-old from Grandview, Ohio, who says he watched in exasperation last spring as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg easily handled what was supposed to be a Senate grilling on privacy policy. “The questions that he was getting asked about security and privacy were asinine. We need leadership that actually understands tech.”

About two-thirds of the young people in the poll say they are extremely or very excited to vote for a candidate who cares about the issues that affect them and their generation, including the economy, gun policy and equal rights, along with immigration and health care. Although most say they’d be at least moderately excited to vote for younger, nonwhite and female candidates, those characteristics don’t generate as much excitement as someone who shares their political views.

About half of young adults report following news about the midterms often or sometimes. About another quarter say they engage on social media. About a third say they’re certain to vote.

The AP-NORC and MTV poll of 1,030 young Americans age 15-34 was conducted June 21 to July 9.

The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.