President Obama ended a two-day college tour with an event at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion on August 29, 2012 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The President talked about the choice for young voters in this election between two fundamentally different visions and the importance of registering to vote. UPI/Pete Marovich | License Photo

Young U.S. voters have become more likely to identify with the Democratic Party since 2006, a Gallup Poll said Friday. Gallup said the movement is fueled partly by increasing racial and ethnic diversity. But the poll found whites between the ages of 18 and 29 have also shifted to the Democrats in recent years.

On average, between 2006 and 2013, 54 percent of young adults have described themselves as Democrats or leaning in that direction, while 36 percent said they were Republican or Republican-leaning. Between 1993 and 2003, 47 percent tilted to the Democrats and 42 percent to the Republicans.


The Democrats continue to have a big advantage among young non-whites. In 2013, 62 percent described themselves as Democrats or leaning to the party and only 25 percent as Republicans.

The Democrats' advantage of 37 percentage points among young non-whites actually dipped slightly last year from an average of 42 points since 1995.

Young people are now more likely to be members of minority groups.

In 1995, when Gallup began measuring the Hispanic share of the population, 71 percent of young adults were non-Hispanic white and 29 percent non-white. Gallup estimates that in 2013 only 54 percent were non-Hispanic white while the non-white share had grown to 45 percent.

Young whites, who tended to be Republicans between 1995 and 2006, have shown a slight preference for the Democrats in most years since then.

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The overall population somewhat favored the Democrats between 2006 and 2008, shifted back toward the Republicans in 2009 and has appeared to slightly favor the Democrats in the past two years.