MTSU Poll: Young TN Voters Flock to Romney

Phillip Nash of Hendersonville is typical of Tennessee voters according to a new MTSU poll. The 22-year-old supports Republican Mitt Romney and votes first on values, not the economy. Photo credit Blake Farmer/WPLN

President Obama has lost many of his younger supporters in Tennessee, according to a poll released Tuesday by MTSU. Nearly three-quarters of voters under the age of 45 say they’ll vote Republican.

Even four years ago, Tennessee didn’t have quite the same youthful enthusiasm for Obama found in other parts of the country. MTSU’s poll finds even more young people are voting Republican – from 57 percent in 2008 to 74 percent this year.

Phillip Nash is a 22-year-old from Hendersonville who voted early decked out in camouflage. He says he doesn’t like the president’s acceptance of gay marriage.

“I’m not going to discriminate against anybody, but I was raised in church. I went to a Christian school. There are certain things I believe in. If you want to do that, if I don’t want to believe in it, I don’t have to believe in it. That’s why I came out and voted.”

The MTSU poll also finds that unlike voters in many other states, Tennesseans are more concerned about values than the economy.

MTSU polling compares results with exit polling from 2008.