New CNBC Generation Lab poll shows almost half of 18- to 34-year-olds see democratic socialism positively

Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist running for Wisconsin governor, this week narrowly lost her primary battle against David Crowley, a Milwaukee County executive, but that doesn’t mean the sheen has rubbed off the left.

With fewer than 90 days remaining before the midterm elections, many younger voters are taking up the mantle for democratic socialism, according to a new CNBC poll with Generation Lab, a research firm that focuses on Americans between the ages of 18 and 34.

According to the CNBC Generation Lab poll, which received responses from 1,088 people earlier this month, 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 now hold either a “favorable” or a “very favorable” view of democratic socialism. An additional 23% held “somewhat unfavorable” or “very unfavorable” opinions, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of 2.97 percentage points. This year marked the first time this survey was conducted, and it dovetails with theCNBC All-America Economic Survey, released last month.

“We built something that will change politics forever,” Hong told supporters late Tuesday, ahead of Crowley’s victory. “The work we’ve done will be remembered.”

One of the central themes in the primaries over the last several months has been the rise of democratic socialist candidates in states including New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Colorado. A democratic socialist also won a mayoral primary in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.

Nearly 80% of the cohort said they had a negative sentiment on the American economy. When asked, “How would you rate the national economy today?” 45% said “bad.” An additional 27% defined it as “really bad,” while 6% said it “couldn’t be worse.”Only 2% of the respondents said the economy “couldn’t be better,” and 3% described it as “great.” When asked about the future of the economy, 50% said it “will get worse,” compared with 22% who said it “will get better.”

Just under half of those polled, 45%, said the biggest pressure point on their finances was “housing,” followed by 39% who said it was “finding a secure and decent-paying job.” Also ranking high on the list of pain points were “student loans,” “credit card debt” and “healthcare.” About half, 47%, said that due to their financial situation they have put off vacations, 32% said they have stopped plans to buy a car, 30% said they put off buying a home, and 28% said they have foregone healthcare.

A growing part of the economy is artificial intelligence. Almost half of respondents, 45%, said they believe AI will have a negative impact on their careers, while 10% believe it will help them with their careers. An additional 40% said they believe “the federal government” must set rules for AI, while 36% said they believe “an independent expert body” should set the rules of the game. Just 8% said they think AI “shouldn’t be regulated.” A majority, 60%, believe data center construction “must be slowed,” while 15% favor “speeding it up.”

When given the names of nine key people in the AI industry and asked whether they trust each leader to act responsibly on AI, in each case a majority of respondents said they don’t. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella scored the best, with 65% reporting they don’t trust him. Palantir CEO Alex Karp scored the worst: 81% said they don’t trust him. About 75% of respondents said they don’t trust Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and about the same percentage said they don’t trust Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk all scored about the same, each with about 70% of respondents saying they don’t trust them, and 79% said they don’t trust Palantir Chairman Peter Thiel.

When asked “What do you do with your money?” 53% said they put it “in the bank,” while 46% said they spend “on things I enjoy.” More than a third, 38%, said they’re “paying off credit card or college debt.”

One thing many people have been spending on recently is prediction markets, which are taking off with younger people, as the companies spend big on online and TV ad campaigns. One-third of the poll’s respondents said they used a platform such as Kalshi or Polymarket “once or twice” in the last 30 days. Thirty percent said they used a prediction market platform “two to five times” in the last 30 days, while 11% said they traded on a platform “more than once per week.”

Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.