Young Voters Turn Out Huge to Iowa Caucuses, Propel Obama, Huckabee to Victory

More than 65,000 young Iowans Rock the Caucuses tonight; Show that the candidate who reaches out to the youth vote will win elections

Jan. 3, 2008 - Des Moines, IA: Young voters turned out in big numbers to the Iowa caucuses tonight and propelled both of the winning candidates to victory. Among 17-29 year old Democrats, 57% supported the winner, Barack Obama, and among 17-29 year old Republicans, 40% supported the winner, Mike Huckabee, according to the CNN entrance poll.

Total turnout of 17-29 year olds was triple the age group's turnout in 2004, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), surpassing 65,000 young participants in the caucuses.

“Tonight showed that candidates who court young voters will win elections,” said Heather Smith, Executive Director of Rock the Vote. “Young voters turned out for candidates who spoke to them, talked about issues they care about, and asked for their votes. Clearly, young voters are a political powerhouse in 2008 and will play a major role come November.”

According to CNN’s entrance poll, 17-29 year olds made up 22% of Democratic caucus-goers, an increase of five percentage points over 2004 and more than this age group’s share of the population (21%). Among Republicans, 11% of caucus-goers were 17-29 years old (there was no Republican caucus in 2004 for comparison).

Fifty-seven percent of 17-29 year old Democrats caucused for Barack Obama, 14% for John Edwards, 11% for Hillary Clinton, and 10% for Bill Richardson. Among 17-29 year old Republicans, 40% caucused for Mike Huckabee, 22% for Mitt Romney, and 21% for Ron Paul. (CNN entrance poll)

In addition to campaigns, nonpartisan organizations including Rock the Vote ran aggressive young voter outreach campaigns. With Iowa PIRG’s New Voters Project, Rock the Vote ran a “Rock the Caucus” campaign to mobilize high school and college students to turn out to the Iowa caucuses. Rock the Vote reached out to more than 20,000 young adults during the Iowa campaign, through class presentations, mock caucuses, online organizing, high school parties, and a voter education campaign.

Young voter turnout is on an upward trend. Turnout went up significantly in 2004 – by 4.3 million over 2000 levels – and went up again in 2006, that time by 1.9 million over 2002 levels. Given this momentum and tonight’s strong young voter showing in Iowa, the 2008 elections are shaping up to be the third consecutive election in a row with increased young voter turnout.

Media Contact: Chrissy Faessen at 202-223-1520 x114 or chrissy (at) rockthevote.com. Rock the Vote spokespeople, including Executive Director Heather Smith, are available for comment and interviews.