New survey data from College Pulse suggests that the Democratic Party should not assume that Gen Z Americans, who worked heavily to remove Donald Trump from office, will remain firmly in the Democratic column. A nationwide poll fielded in September of more than 1,500 college students from a diverse group of 86 different colleges and universities found that while the Republican Party is not well-liked among Gen Z college students, the Democratic Party does not fare much better. Young voters have strong reservations about both parties, and their voices will continue to grow in influence, especially in 2022.

Consider the fact that most college students today do not see themselves as Democrats or Republicans. Thirty-four percent of students surveyed identified as strong or weak Democrats and 11 percent claimed to be strong or weak Republicans, leaving the majority—54 percent—in the middle, identifying as Independents, Leaners, or something else entirely.

What this means is that relative to the population, college students today are no more Democratic than the nation as a whole. Nationally, about a third (33 percent) of registered voters identify as Democrats, about three in 10 (29 percent) identify as Republicans, and the remainder (34 percent) are somewhere in the middle. While college students are less likely to be Republican and more likely to be centrist, they are by no means more left than the rest of the nation.

Attitudes toward the parties are revealing and should make Democrats pause. Over half (58 percent) of respondents thought the Democratic Party’s approach to policy was misguided and 62 percent felt the same way about the GOP’s. Moreover, only 29 percent believed the Democratic Party and just 17 percent believed the Republican Party have been acting in the best interests of democracy. Less than a fifth (18 percent) of respondents maintained the Democratic Party has been moving in the right direction, as well as 10 percent who believe the GOP is doing so.

When asked about the role of radical extremists, 14 percent said there are more radicals in the Democratic Party while 39 percent thought the Republican Party was more impacted. But a plurality of students (46 percent) said that both parties have equal trouble with radical members. While the Democratic Party may be perceived a bit better among students, they in no way are getting overwhelming support from them.

Perhaps most telling of all, few students feel either political party represents their interests. Shockingly, just 8 percent of college students believed that the Democratic Party represents their interests very well, and only 5 percent said the same about the GOP.

Even when accounting for differences in gender, race, and sexuality, the Democratic Party did not receive large support from any category of young voters. Just 8 percent of men and 9 percent of women said the Democratic Party represents their interests, compared to similarly few men (4 percent) and women (5 percent) who said the GOP represents their interests.

Turning to race, 6 percent of whites, 8 percent of Asians, 13 percent of Blacks, and 15 percent of Hispanics believed the Democrats represent them well. While fewer whites (5 percent), Hispanics (5 percent), Blacks (2 percent), and Asians (2 percent), thought the GOP represents them very well, these numbers are very small for both parties.

Finally, 7 percent of heterosexual, 12 percent of bisexual, and 22 percent of gay or lesbian students said the Democratic Party represents them very well. The figure was lower for the GOP, with 5 percent of straight, 8 percent of gay or lesbian, and just 3 percent of bisexual students having said the Republican Party very well represents their interests.

The bottom line is, the Democratic Party has weak support even from its most likely followers. Party leaders should not assume that they have any lock on college-educated, Gen Z Americans. It’s true that the Democratic Party is preferred to the Republican Party by young voters, but enthusiasm appears to be waning.

The 2022 elections are about a year away, and quite a bit will change before then. The key question will be whether or not the Democratic Party can stop infighting, promote an image of competence and moderation, and cultivate deeper relationships with the growing numbers of young voters.

The recent results in Virginia and New York should be a wake-up call for the Democratic Party to build a youth agenda that is focused on problem-solving and protecting democracy, rather than ideological posturing.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Jeremi Suri is Mack Brown distinguished chair for leadership in global affairs and professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas at Austin.

The views in this article are the writers’ own.