A July 2026 Commonwealth Poll found that 48.9% of Virginians aged 18–24 identify as independent voters.
The figure aligns with Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, known as CIRCLE, which says that 43% of young people do not fully identify with either Democrats or Republicans.
The United States has operated under a two-party system since the First Party System emerged in the 1790s, according to the National Archives.
Conducted by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the Commonwealth Poll offers a snapshot of Virginians’ opinions on current policy issues.
“The number of individuals who identify themselves as independent or not aligned with one party has grown and grown and grown,” said VCU’s Robyn McDougle, an interim dean at the Wilder School.
McDougle added that the rise in young people identifying as independents likely stems from their disagreement with some of the positions held by major parties.
“I don’t think that young voters are happy with either political party,” said Emma Lawrence, a student at Virginia Tech.
Lawrence, who co-founded the BridgeUSA chapter at the public university in Blacksburg, said students are less involved in campus chapters of political parties. However, they are increasingly rallying around specific policies, from world conflicts to executive orders addressing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The VT chapter of BridgeUSA describes itself on Instagram as a “student led movement tackling the issue of political polarization on college campuses.”
“We’re not a campus of bystanders,” Lawrence told VPM News. “We’re still very engaged in activism.”
Lawrence added that young people’s frustration with the current political climate is reflected in the growth of student organizations focused on dialogue, including BridgeUSA.
Nationally, college students are drifting toward stronger partisan political identity. According to a national analysis by The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts (CIRCLE), 35% of college students say they have become more progressive while 14% say they are more conservative.
John Holbein, a professor of public policy at the University of Virginia, said that while there are increasing levels of political polarization across all generations, young adults are the least polarized generation.
He said that a constant barrage of political issues makes it hard for younger people to establish a firm political identity.
“In some ways, this rising generation has been forced onto the stage of issues that are directly relevant to them in a way that we haven’t seen in the past 20 or 30 years,” Holbein said.
Young adults aren’t voting as much, but lean Democrat when they do
And even though young Virginians show interest in state politics, they are much less likely to cast a ballot.
CIRCLE data shows that only 34% of eligible young adults voted in the 2025 gubernatorial elections, up from 27% in 2021.
“They cared a lot about issues in their communities and issues national and international, but what they really lacked was this ability to translate that interest into concrete action,” said Holbein.
Holbein attributes low youth turnout to the complexity of voting, including re-registering after a move, researching local nonpartisan candidates and handling paperwork.
“I think the action of participating in politics can be scary, and like to vote sometimes seems like a burden to people rather than coming together to have a conversation with your friends about politics,” Lawrence said.
While both Lawrence and Holbein said that Virginian youths are engaging with local politics, Holbein said that it is unlikely for the youngest voters to engage at the same rate as older generations.
“I’m just not optimistic that, like, something gargantuan is going to change,” he said.
While a larger population of Virginian youths self-identify as independent, a majority of young adults are voting for the Democratic Party in recent years. In the 2025 gubernatorial elections, 70% of voters aged 18–29 voted for Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, according to CNN exit polls.
“As time has gone on, our younger voters are leaning harder into voting for the Democrat candidate, and our younger voters are looking at democracy and civility as being their call to action to vote,” McDougle said.
In the October 2025 Commonwealth Poll, 49.3% of voters who identified themselves as ‘Independents’ voted for the Democratic candidate, while 34.9% voted for the Republican candidate.
Holbein said that the current system forces voters into a binary choice at elections. Despite rising dissatisfaction with the current system, he said that most Americans believe that the two-party system will stay.
“Never say never in American politics, but it is, I think, unlikely in the upcoming elections to see something large scale, large enough to like swing elections,” Holbein said.