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Millennials in Buffalo undecided about who should be president

Posted at 6:46 PM, Sep 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-19 18:52:06-04

Millennials could make it an uphill battle for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to win the presidential election.
Many voters under the age of 25 are either undecided or have a lack of interest to vote in this upcoming presidential election. Some students we talked to at Buffalo State College were undecided. A student even told 7 Eyewitness News that he's considering third party candidates.

"I'm not looking at just the two big ones, Trump and Hillary. I'm looking at the third party candidates. I got to see who really stands out to me," Alex Lebron said.

The 18-year-old Buff State freshman said he's disappointed with the choice of candidates in this election. He thinks neither major party candidate will focus on issues that are close to his heart, if they become commander and chief.

"Focusing on like Isis in America, police brutality, you know just domestic issues," Lebron said.

Nationally Trump and Clinton are virtually tied in the polls. According to 538.com, Clinton captured 46 percent of the vote among Americans under 25-years-old. Experts say, the problem for her is whether she can motivate millennials all the way to the polls.

"I think they are both in trouble with millennials," said Buff State Policial Science Professor, Dr. Peter Yacobucci.

He said neither major party has candidates young people can relate to.

"I think millenials tend to be more liberal. That drives them away from the republican party and from Donald Trump. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton seems to be a generation away from millennials," Dr. Yacobucci said.

However, the pressure is now on for young voters. Several students at Buff State said they feel it.

"I'm scared of our country going into turmoil, if God forbid , if we just elect a president and things don't go as planned," Buff State Student, Lashawn Taylor said.

"Far as my group of friends we are along the same page as far as we don't know enough to elect a president," Buff State Student, Chino Berrious said.

Buffalo Mayor, Byron Brown hopes the new Hillary Clinton Campaign Office that's now open in Buffalo will change the minds of these students.

"This will be a place where younger volunteers can reach out to other young people to inform them about how important it is to come out and vote," Mayor Brown said.

With less than 50 days left until the November election, experts say it's almost too late to win over first time voters.

"This awfully late to get the ground game just started especially for young voters. But we'll see what happens over the next two months," Dr. Yacobucci said.