More young people in New York City voted in 2020 than in the past ten years; last year, over 59% of people ages 18-29 went to the polls. But for the last decade, young people in America have been less and less likely to affiliate themselves with the Democratic (or Republican) Party. 

In 2016 and 2020, America saw young people vote for Bernie Sanders, and with the election of Alexandria Orasio-Cortez and Julia Salazar here in New York, there is no question that many young New Yorkers are favoring leftist candidates, who although elected from the Democratic Party ticket, advocate for policies left of the national Democratic Party’s and who are not necessarily endorsed by the national party. Since the pandemic started, groups like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have seen upticks in membership.

“We’ve been more and more moving to the left, more and more progressive,” said Brooklyn Young Democrats President Christina Das. “I think it’s not as much of a schism in the Democtratic Party, but in young Democrats; I think there’s a leftist push and a movement to get more real transformational change, not incremental change. And even in New York you see that with Democratic legislative members being defeated by DSA challengers.”