Poll: Democrats catch up on election enthusiasm, but two key groups lag behind
Democrats overall have caught up with Republicans in 2024 election enthusiasm, but relatively few Black voters and younger voters are registering high interest.
The latest NBC News poll contains this good news for Democrats: They’ve essentially caught up to Republicans on enthusiasm about the upcoming election — after trailing on this measure while President Joe Biden was in the race.
The challenge for Democrats, however, is that key parts of their base are less fired up about the election than they were in previous cycles, as the party tries to rev up turnout for a close race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Overall, the poll finds 74% of registered voters expressing high interest in the election, registering either a “9” or “10” on a 10-point scale.
That’s the lowest share expressing high interest for all other presidential cycles the poll has tested since 2004 at this same point in time — with the exception of 2016.
By party, 79% of Republicans have high interest, compared with 77% of Democrats. That 2-point deficit for Democrats is an improvement for the party from July’s NBC News poll, when Biden was still in the race. Then, the deficit was 5 points, 76% to 71%.
Rating: 5