Oldsters Dominate ABQ Mayoral Voting

The talk these days is of Millennials and how they are our future, especially when it comes to politics and the economy.

That might be so in other places, but not in Albuquerque, and not when it comes to voting in city elections.

According to an analysis by the Bernalillo County Clerk's Office, voting in the Oct. 3 mayoral election was dominated by oldsters, that is by people between the ages of 53 and 92. In fact, of the nearly 97,000 votes cast in that election, 64.6 percent were cast by Baby Boomers and their parents, who are also known as the Silent Generation.

And the Millennials? Well, they accounted for 13.5 percent of voters in that eight-person race.

Generation Xers, meaning people between the ages of 38 and 52, accounted for 19.8 percent of the vote.

So why didn't Millennials make a better showing in the Oct. 3 election?

It could be that none of the candidates inspired them. It could be that there just aren't very many Millennials here. Or maybe they just don't care about politics.

The latter is probably it. A mere 14 percent of the Millennials that are registered to vote in the city actually cast ballots in the election. That compares to 42 percent of the Baby Boomers, and 46 percent for their parents.

The low participation by Millennials in the election shows up across the the board. Of the Millennials registered as Democrats, 19.26 percent voted. For Republicans it was 14 percent, and for Independents it was 7 percent.