New Poll Finds Clinton Expanding Lead Over Trump Among Battleground State Millennials as Voters Become More Aware of Differences Between Candidates On Key Issues

Trump Continues to Be Seen As Racist; Millennials Would Be “Ashamed” If He Wins; Trouble for Senate Republicans

Today, NextGen Climate released a new poll of battleground state millennials showing that as more voters learn the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on key issues, Clinton’s lead over Trump has grown and her favorability rating has improved.

“Millennials overwhelmingly support progressive values but it is not always clear to them who embodies those values. This poll shows that the crucial work being done on the ground to highlight the differences between the candidates is having a significant impact,” said NextGen Climate President Tom Steyer.

In July, NextGen Climate released a poll showing that Clinton led Trump among battleground state millennials, but large numbers of millennials didn’t support either candidate or see much of a difference between the candidates on key issues, and viewed both candidates unfavorably.

The poll released today shows that millennials’ views of Donald Trump have remained deeply unfavorable, while Clinton’s favorability has improved.

In July, Trump’s net favorable rating stood at -48 points among likely voters; that fell slightly to -52 in the new poll. Further, the percentage of millennial likely voters who say Trump is racist, that he does not respect women, that they would be ashamed of their country if Trump is elected president, and that Trump is unfit to protect the country from major threats are all virtually unchanged since July.

What has changed since July’s poll is more millennials seeing the differences between Clinton and Trump on the issues that matter most to them. As these differences have become more widely-known, Clinton’s favorability has improved and her lead over Trump has increased. In July, 36 percent of millennial likely voters said there was no real difference between Clinton and Trump on the issues they care about; in August that dropped to 29 percent. Clinton also makes clear progress among Sanders supporters, with 67 percent now saying they would vote for her in a four-way race, up from 58 percent in July.

This shift can also be observed on specific issues like protecting our families’ health with clean air and water, supporting equal pay for equal work, and ensuring women have access to health care and are able to make their own reproductive health care decisions. On each issue, more voters are seeing the differences between the candidates — and they prefer Clinton’s approach.

As likely voters increasingly see differences between Clinton and Trump on the issues, Clinton’s net favorability rating has improved, from -28 to -10. Clinton’s lead over Trump, which stood at 43-24 (+19) in July, has grown to 48-23 (+25) in August — a shift that almost precisely matches the increase in millennials who see a difference between Clinton and Trump on the issues.

On specific issues, NextGen Climate’s August poll continues to show strong support among millennial likely voters for progressive priorities, with strong climate policies among the most motivating. Prioritizing the transition to clean energy continues to have the clearest positive impact for Clinton as four-in-five millennials (83 percent) say it would make them more likely to vote for her. Establishing the United States as the clean energy superpower (80 percent more likely) and supporting limiting carbon pollution (76 percent more likely) are also in the top-tier, along with other progressive priorities like making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of taxes (83 percent more likely), supporting universal background checks on gun sales (77 percent more likely), ensuring that women have the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions (75 percent more likely), making debt-free college available to everyone (74 percent); and raising the federal minimum wage (68 percent).

The new poll indicates danger for Republican Senate candidates: 61 percent of millennial likely voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supports Donald Trump for president, while only 24 percent would be more likely to vote for such a candidate.

NextGen Climate’s new poll of millennials was conducted from August 24-30 in 11 battleground states crucial to the outcome of the presidential election and control of the United States Senate: New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada.

Millennials are the largest generation and an important voting bloc for candidates looking to win in November.  That’s why NextGen Climate is committed to educating, registering and turning out these young voters to make sure their voice is heard at the ballot box. NextGen Climate is on over 200 campuses, and counting, and has a presence on 8 battleground states across the country using a combination of field and digital tactics to reach out to millennial voters.

Click here to view the poll results.