For the GOP, Maybe Boomers Aren’t That Bad After All

Baby Boomers have spent years serving as America’s favorite generational scapegoat.

Housing costs too much?  Blame the Boomers.

Washington borrowed too much?  Same suspects.

However, recent polling may drive conservatives to reconsider the indictment.

In the past decade, Boomers have become more Republican, including a substantial shift between the 2018 and 2022 midterm elections.

In fact, one recent poll suggests that trend is accelerating this election cycle.

Perhaps “OK, Boomer” deserves a friendlier tone.

The Cooperative Election Study is a large academic survey administered by YouGov. It interviews Americans before and after elections, allowing researchers to examine reported voting behavior alongside demographic characteristics.

Its value here is that it identifies respondents by birth year. That lets us compare Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, across elections instead of substituting a changing age category.

The distinction matters. A 60-year-old Boomer in 2018 would appear in a different age bracket eight years later without changing generations, opinions or party registration.

Using the study’s public data, the comparison was striking.

In 2018, Boomers were almost evenly divided: 50.2% voted Republican and 49.3% Democratic.

In 2022, Republicans won them 56.5% to 43%.

The GOP advantage increased from less than one percentage point to double digits.

It also establishes a demanding benchmark for 2026.

Republicans merely winning Boomers again would not demonstrate further improvement. They would need to outperform their 2022 showing.

Which makes Rasmussen Reports’ latest polling worth examining.

In its October survey, voters 65 and older favored Republican congressional candidates 66 percent to 32 percent. That is a 34-point Republican advantage, even as Democrats led the overall congressional ballot by five points.

Those two findings can coexist. Republicans can face a difficult national environment while retaining substantial strength among older voters.

There is also a useful historical comparison within Rasmussen’s own polling. In October 2022, it found seniors favoring Republicans 56% to 38%, an 18-point margin. Its latest senior advantage is 16 points larger.

Rasmussen’s 2022 Republican support figure was close to the 56.5 percent estimated for Boomers in the CES analysis. That provides some historical context for taking its current finding seriously.

There is, however, evidence of a broader partisan movement.

A YouGov analysis of CES data through 2025 finds Boomers increasingly identifying with or leaning toward Republicans while their Democratic affiliation declines. Boomer support for Republicans rose more than six percentage points.

That measures political attachment rather than a specific congressional choice, but it supports the possibility of something more durable than a single election’s turnout advantage.

The responsible conclusion is straightforward: Boomers moved substantially toward Republicans between the last two midterms. Whether they move further this November remains unsettled.

The broader shift in party identification gives us a reason to keep watching.

For Republicans, the significance extends beyond one election.

A generation once associated with challenging authority is increasingly finding a political home in a party challenging the institutions that now exercise it.

The reason for the shift is worthy of further investigation. 

As they are leaning conservative, perhaps the explanation begins with what Boomers want to preserve.

After decades of working, saving and buying homes, they may hear promises to remake the economy as threats to what they built.

Inflation can make retirement feel less secure, while arguments over policing, immigration and cultural change may leave some wondering when traditional expectations became controversial.

Having grown up during the Cold War, they may also find socialism less romantic than younger Americans do.

Some could be embracing Republicans enthusiastically. Others may simply feel that Democrats have moved away from them. The voting data establishes the shift, not its cause.

Boomers accounted for nearly four in ten voters in each of the last two midterm elections. Every one-point shift toward Republicans yields a 0.75-point gain in Election Day results. 

“OK, Boomer” was supposed to dismiss a generation.

For conservatives, maybe Boomers really are OK?

Athan Koutsiouroumbas is a managing director at Long Nyquist and Associates and a former congressional chief of staff. Follow him on X at @Athan_K.