Record Youth Turnout in Texas and Ohio!

“Young voters were inspired by the pivotal nature of yesterday’s races, particularly on the Democratic side, to participate in a wave that swamped prior youth voting levels and continued the unprecedented 18-29 year-old involvement in this presidential campaign,” said Marc Morgenstern, Executive Director of Declare Yourself. “Young voters stated loud and clear that they are an important factor in determining the next president and must be listened to.”

We have been reporting on the youth vote since the primaries began, and we are running out of ways to say that the youth vote turnout is soaring past turnout numbers in previous elections! But hey, we're happy to have this problem!

Youth turnout increased significantly in Ohio by 10 percentage points since 2000, with under 30s making up 15% of the total vote this year. In 2004 Texas (tied with Tennessee) had the lowest youth turnout in the entire country! On the Democratic side, where the race is tight, the youth vote turnout yesterday increased from 83,923 in 2004 to 449,173! Although turnout for Texan Republicans in 2004 is not available, the total youth turnout increased from 6% in 2000 to 17% this year. Overall we are very proud of the Lone Star State!

Since I can't resist a play on words...McCain is now the Lone Star of the Republican Party! After sweeping Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont, Senator McCain now has enough delegates to become the parties nominee and received But who will his opponent be?

Senators Clinton and Obama are still in the race to be the Democratic candidate. Clinton won Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island last night and Obama won Vermont. The delegate count, according to CNN, now stands at Obama: 1,520 and Clinton: 1,424. The first one to reach 2,025 wins the nomination! Stay tuned for updates or check out the Declare Yourself primary results page to see where the candidates currently stand in the race.