Democratic data scientist Aaron Strauss has caused major disagreement in his party by suggesting that their current voter registration strategy may backfire and help former President Donald Trump reclaim the presidency.
Strauss’ warning that registering youth and minority voters to vote in the upcoming election draws attention to a potential miscalculation on the part of Democratic strategists: both young and Black voters seem to be skewing toward Republicans.
Activist Aaron Strauss Warns Democrats to STOP Registering Young Voters – They're Going to Vote for Trump https://t.co/4bkiTAmomC
— Ben Owen (@hrkbenowen) April 5, 2024
According to the Washington Post, Strauss, who works with OpenLabs to allocate liberal funding, sent a memo to several major liberal donors in January that warned against the traditional strategy used by Democrats of focusing on young and minority voters when conducting voter registration pushes.
Recent political trends are showing young and minority voters skewing toward Donald Trump, a shift from what Democratic candidates have grown to expect that comes amid critiques of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, border security and foreign policy.
Essentially, these demographics have been paying attention over the past few years and have noticed a problem with the current leadership.
The Democrats have benefited from the support of young people and people of color for a long time, demographics known for lower voting rates compared to their older, White counterparts. These groups have been the focus of extensive voter registration drives by nonpartisan organizations aligned with Democratic interests. But the changing political landscape may turn this advantage into a liability as these unregistered voters begin to see the costs of voting for Democrats.
“the legislation would ensure all high school students in California, starting with the 2026-27 school year, receive the opportunity and resources necessary to pre-register to vote at least once by the end of their 11th grade year.” #California https://t.co/U7Vz7c1ojr
— Jennifer Asper (@j3669) April 4, 2024
Recent data illustrates the loss of support for Biden. One survey conducted by Quinnipiac University shows Biden’s support at 60% among Black voters and 34% among Hispanic voters in a hypothetical matchup between Trump and three other, third-party candidates.
This is a clear change from 2020 election exit polls that showed Biden winning 87% of the Black vote and 65% of the Latino vote.
