Interests of an 18-Year-Old

An 18-year-old voting for the first time in November 2026 leads with these documented concerns: cost of college and student debt, climate change, housing affordability, gun violence (they grew up with active-shooter drills and were 10 during Uvalde), social media and mental health, jobs that pay enough to live on, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ acceptance, and whether democracy still works. Talarico's platform reads like a direct address to this cohort: housing affordability (banning Wall Street from buying single-family homes, LIHTC, modular construction), gun safety (raise AR-style purchase age to 21), reproductive freedom, marijuana legalization, opposition to book bans, anti-billionaire framing, and a Christian seminarian who openly rejects Christian Nationalism. Paxton offers this cohort almost nothing they say they want: his anti-ESG litigation, voucher push, and tariff support work against their stated concerns on climate, school funding, and cost of living. He earns one point because 18-year-old conservatives raised in deeply religious households exist and Paxton speaks their language. This is the most lopsided age-bracket grade in the table — tied with the AFL-CIO, LWV, and Willie Nelson as the widest gaps.