First 2016 Battleground State Poll of Millennials Finds Clinton Leading Trump, But With Room For Growth

21 Percent Of Millennials Are Sanders Holdouts; Issue Contrasts Are Key To Winning Them; Trump Seen As Racist, More Disliked Than Voldemort; Millennials Would Be “Ashamed” If He Wins

PHILADELPHIA — Today, NextGen Climate released the first battleground state poll of Millennials in 2016, showing Hillary Clinton with a solid lead over Donald Trump, but with room for growth among Sanders supporters. The poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group in late June and early July, found broad and intense disapproval of Donald Trump among Millennials, and a strong preference for a wide range of progressive policy priorities, including transitioning to clean energy in order to combat climate change.

“Millennials across the country support progressive values, like protecting our climate and creating an economy that works for all Americans, and we will help make sure their voices are heard this November,” said NextGen Climate President Tom Steyer. “Our most important challenge is bringing together a coalition of voters that is going to push for solutions on climate change—and deny big-oil backed Republicans the opportunity to take our country backwards.”

Large majorities of Millennial voters hold deeply negative views of Donald Trump—his net favorability rating (-53) is 23 points worse than that of Lord Voldemort (-30), the embodiment of pure evil from the Harry Potter series. 75 percent of Millennials say Trump is racist and does not respect women, 69 percent think he is unfit to protect the nation from major threats, and 69 percent would be ashamed if he is elected president.

Despite their dislike of Trump, 21 percent of Millennials are “Sanders Holdouts”—they support Sanders in a hypothetical general election matchup with Trump, but do not support Clinton. These voters are unlikely to support Trump, but may vote for a third party candidate or stay home. 75 percent of millennials say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to transition the U.S. from fossil fuels to clean energy, but 44 percent of millennials do not see a difference between Clinton and Trump on this issue. 44 percent also prefer Clinton’s views on transitioning to clean energy; only 12 percent prefer Trump’s.

The Millennial generation’s size—more than 50 million registered voters—and strong preference for progressive policy positions mean that winning over Sanders Holdouts could provide a path to victory for Clinton in several key states. Demonstrating clear policy differences between Clinton and Trump will be key to winning their support: More than two-thirds of Sanders Holdouts do not yet see a difference between the candidates on the issues.

Millennials’ priorities include making health care affordable (86% call this a high priority), getting the economy to work for the middle class (85%), protecting our families’ health with clean air and water (81%), supporting equal pay for equal work (77%) and making college affordable (73%).

Climate and environmental issues are critical to millennial voters, particularly Sanders holdouts, 58 percent of whom say they would be more likely to vote for Clinton if she prioritized the transition to clean energy. Eighty-five percent of Sanders holdouts would be more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, while 86 percent would be less likely to vote for a candidate who wants to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA also enjoys strong support among Millennials, with a net favorability rating (+36) higher than that of LeBron James (+29) and Beyonce (+18).

The release of the poll comes just days after the Democratic Party adopted the most progressive climate platform in its history, pledging to transition the U.S. to 100 percent clean energy by 2050 and formalizing President Obama’s Climate Test for new federal infrastructure programs. Unlike Donald Trump and the GOP’s dangerous and hate-filled agenda, Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party have prioritized climate action, providing them with the opportunity to win millions of votes from millennials in November.

Click here to view the poll results.