How Young, Social Media-Savvy Voters Carried Andrew Yang to Iowa

Compared to the average potential Democratic primary voter, Yang’s supporters tend to sway younger, are more likely to name the economy as their top issue and have a more expansive social media presence, according to Jan. 20-26 Morning Consult polling tracking the Democratic primary.

Of the 735 voters who named Yang as their first-choice candidate, 71 percent are under the age of 45, 32 percent identify the economy as their top issue, and 60 percent are on Twitter.

Supporters of Booker and more established candidates tend to more closely resemble the overall makeup of the survey’s 17,836 Democratic primary voters, of whom 42 percent are under the age of 45, 22 percent named the economy as their top issue and 46 percent are on Twitter. About half of both Yang supporters and Democratic primary voters overall said they made less than $50,000 each year.

“Andrew Yang is showing Democratic primary voters that he is a different type of leader who truly understands the problems facing America,” said S.Y. Young, national press secretary for the Yang campaign, in a statement. “No other candidate speaks as eloquently on the economy, race, families with children with disabilities, or the influence of money in politics."

Much of Yang’s success could be attributed to his ability to build a voter base similar to that of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who currently has 23 percent of first-choice support, according to the Morning Consult tracking data, and trails front-runner former Vice President Joe Biden by 6 percentage points. There are, however, a few, but notable differences: Most of Sanders' voters have an annual income that’s less than $50,000 (60 percent), and they’re more likely to identify as "very liberal," at 25 percent. And men make up a larger share of Yang’s base (58 percent) than Sanders’ (48 percent).  

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