A new poll of young voters shows Harris with a commanding 31 point lead over Trump

President Biden had a young people problem. Vice President Harris may not.

In a new poll from the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, Harris holds a 31-point lead over former President Donald Trump among likely voters ages 18 to 29.

The poll, released Tuesday, shows Harris ahead of Trump, 61% to 30%, in a match-up that includes third-party candidates. Among only registered voters, Harris’ lead drops slightly, but Trump still trails her by 23 points.

The findings represent a marked improvement for Democrats since Harvard's spring youth poll, which found Biden ahead of Trump by 13 percentage points among likely voters and just seven percentage points among registered voters under 30. At the time, young, left-leaning Americans around the country told NPR they were unhappy with their presidential options.

"This poll reveals a significant shift in the overall vibe and preferences of young Americans as the campaign heads into the final stretch," John Della Volpe, the polling director of the Institute of Politics, said in a statement. "Gen Z and young millennials' heightened enthusiasm signals a potentially decisive role for the youth vote in 2024."

It’s a promising sign for Harris, who is banking on high levels of youth support. Voters under 30 played a decisive role in several key battleground states with tight margins in 2020 and overall voted for Biden by a 24-point margin nationwide.

A big shift in engagement

The latest poll, which surveyed more than 2,000 individuals under 30 from Sept. 4 through Sept. 16, underscores a noticeable shift in engagement after Harris took over the ticket. Political strategists point to spikes in voter registrations in the week Biden dropped out of the race, with the highest