Data shows younger Seattle residents voted later, creating progressive surge
Nov 16, 2019, 10:28 PM
(MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
There were numerous people around Seattle who likely got excited a little too early by the prospect of Kshama Sawant losing the election to Egan Orion, but then she staged a late comeback. This happened with other more leftists candidates too. Why? It’s those pesky millennial again.
It turns out that younger voters perhaps unsurprisingly waited until the last minute to turn in their ballots, which in turn powered candidates like Sawant to victory, reports The Seattle Times.
“I remember thinking that Sawant was unbelievably optimistic to think that she could come from this far behind in just a matter of a couple of days, and yet she was right and I was wrong,” said KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney. “Progressive voters tend to be young, just for a broad swath, and they all hang onto their ballots until the last second. And then they end up tipping the race significantly in favor of the more liberal cause.”
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Ballots received on or after Election Day were those from a lower median age, helping Sawant and prosecutor Andrew Lewis win late. The median age for ballots received before the November 5 deadline was 56 years-old, 47 years-old for those received day of, and 36 years-old for those received on the 8th.
“I get mine in early because I love getting the mailer from some candidate I don’t like and think, ‘Haha, this is wasted money,'” joked co-host Feliks Banel. “‘This is what democracy vouchers look like wasted on this candidate and ha ha, because I voted two weeks ago.'”
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What’s striking is that the candidates and their campaigns appear to be aware of this pattern, and made extra pushes into last minute canvassing.
“The Seattle Times spin is apparently millennials are high-information voters, and they like to collect a lot of information before they finally vote. Really?” Tom asked, exasperated.
“Yeah I see that everywhere, people walking around, collecting information and bumping into lampposts as they’re collecting information,” joked Feliks.
Listen to the Tom and Curley Show weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
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