I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Young voters who participated in the 2008 midterms were still more Democratic and racially diverse than the general population, according to an analysis of exit polls from Tuft University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning Engagement (CIRCLE) and the Generational Alliance. However, only 20.9 percent of eligible voters from 18-29 participated in the midterm elections that resulted in large gains from Republicans nationwide.
“Since 2004, young voters have been one of the strongest Democratic constituencies,” said CIRCLE director Peter Levine. “Democrats need to engage them better than they did in 2010, and Republicans need to make inroads in a generation that continues to prefer Democrats.”
The study found that young voters voted from Democratic House candidates by a margin of 57 percent to 40 percent and approved of President Barack Obama’s handling of his job as president by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.
Among all voters in the midterm, just 45 percent approved of how Obama was handling his job compared to 54 percent who disapproved of his handling.
The study found that younger voters have a more racially and ethnically diverse profile than the electorate at large:
Among younger voters, 66% were White, 14% Black, 15% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2% “all others” (this last category includes Native Americans and those who choose to classify themselves in any of the other categories). In contrast, among voters 30 and older, 80% were white, 10% Black, 7% Hispanic, 1% Asian, and 2% “all other.” Seven percent of younger voters said they were gay, lesbian, or bisexual, compared to 4% of all voters.
The two minority racial/ethnic groups that lead the way in voting among the 18-29 year old population were blacks (14 percent) and Hispanics (15 percent), according to the report.
