--- ---  # Young Voters Give Bernie Sanders a Lift in Iowa Caucuses by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 2, 2016 5:30 PM UTC  Bernie Sanders speaks during his Caucus night event at the at the Holiday Inn on Feb. 1, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. Bernie Sanders speaks during his Caucus night event at the at the Holiday Inn on Feb. 1, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa.Joshua Lott—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 2, 2016 5:30 PM UTC A large number of young voters participating in Monday night’s [Iowa caucuses](http://time.com/4203960/what-the-iowa-caucuses-meant/) gave [Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4200217/iowa-caucuses-new-hampshire-primary-2016-election/item/bernie-sanders-2/) a [lift](http://time.com/4203862/iowa-caucuses-hillary-clinton-win/) in the Democratic race and almost propelled him to victory, according to an analysis of [exit poll data.](http://civicyouth.org/iowa-caucuses-2016/) Some 53,000 young [Iowans](http://time.com/4203598/iowa-caucuses-speeches-speakers/), defined as voters age 17-29, participated Monday night, making up 15% of total-caucus goers, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University. Clinton narrowly won the caucuses, according to the state Democratic Party, but the Associated Press never called the race and Sanders called it a “virtual tie.” “Last night’s Iowa caucuses demonstrated the potential power of young people to shape elections,” said CIRCLE director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg. “In the Democratic caucus, young voters helped to propel Senator Sanders to a virtual tie, and Republican youth broke their own record of caucus participation. One message is clear: when candidates and campaigns ask young people to participate and inspire them to get involved, they respond.” Of the 30,000 young Democrats participating in the caucuses, there was overwhelming support for Sanders over Clinton, 84% to 14%. Clinton [narrowly won the overall vote](http://time.com/4203862/iowa-caucuses-hillary-clinton-win/) in Iowa, but high participation from younger voters may have contributed to the near-stalemate, as Sanders only took home just 26% of the 65-and-over vote. Turnout among young Republicans broke a caucus record, according to CIRCLE, with 22,000 voters showing up to caucus. No one candidate came away with a majority of voters in that group, as winner [Ted Cruz drew 26%](http://time.com/4203690/iowa-caucuses-ted-cruz/), followed by Marco Rubio at 23%, Donald Trump at 20%, and Rand Paul at 14%. Iowa Caucus Results: Bernie Sanders Lifted by Young Voters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4204331/iowa-caucus-results-bernie-sanders-young-voters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4204331/iowa-caucus-results-bernie-sanders-young-voters/"},"headline":"Young Voters Give Bernie Sanders a Lift in Iowa Caucuses","datePublished":"2016-02-02T17:30:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:41:09.087Z","description":"Some 84% of Democrats under 30 voted for Sanders","url":"https://time.com/4204331/iowa-caucus-results-bernie-sanders-young-voters/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Bernie Sanders","iowa caucus"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9877faa057cbba7/69887bcf2dce0133529e7a08/bernie-sanders2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9877faa057cbba7/69887bcf2dce0133529e7a08/bernie-sanders2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bernie-sanders","caption":"Bernie Sanders speaks during his Caucus night event at the at the Holiday Inn on Feb. 1, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa.","creditText":"Joshua Lott—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4204331/iowa-caucus-results-bernie-sanders-young-voters/","name":"Young Voters Give Bernie Sanders a Lift in Iowa Caucuses"}}]}] ```