The Republican Party is desperate. They know the demographic numbers are against them. The only collusion they have to keep power is to suppress the vote as much as possible, especially in Democratic precincts.
One in 10 eligible voters in 2020 were Generation Z, born after 1996. That equals roughly 24 million who were able to cast their vote last November. The political power of this group will continue to grow steadily between now and the upcoming 2022 and 2024 elections. Generation Z is more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation. They are on track to be the most educated generation yet. Pew Research Center found that 61% of Gen Z voters said they were definitely going to vote for the Democratic candidate for president in 2020. This demographic alliance does not bode well for the Republican Party.
Registered voters in the U.S. in 2020 identified themselves as 34% independent, 33% Democratic and 29% Republican. When taking independent’s partisan leaning into account of all registered voter 49% as identified as Democrats and 44% as Republicans. These numbers will continue to expand as new Gen Z voters become eligible to vote. White voters have declined from 85% in 1996 to 69% in 2020, which has negatively impacted the Republican Party. Voters with a college degree increased from 24% in 1996 to 36% in 2020, another demographic transformation that does not favor Republicans. This is also the reason Republicans don’t support funding increases for higher education and making college tuition free. Educated voters represent a serious threat to the Republican Party.
The bottom line is that Republicans are losing the demographic numbers game. Watch what Gianforte and his Republicans bootlickers do to suppress voting in Montana. This will be most obvious
in Democratic precincts and cities such as Bozeman and Missoula.
Jack Davis
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 5/4/21