The Declining Political Power of Older Whites

Among the 133 million Americans who reported voting in the 2012 presidential election, only 74 percent were non-Hispanic white. This figure is down from 81 percent in 2000 and 88 percent in 1992. What a difference a few decades make in the country's voter demographics. Here is the breakdown of 2012 voters by race (alone or in combination) and Hispanic origin...

Asian: 3.3%
Black: 14.0%
Hispanic: 8.4%
Non-Hispanic white: 73.7%

Add age to the calculation, and non-Hispanic whites aged 45 or older were only 48 percent of 2012 voters. This is well below their 54 percent share of voters in the 2010 congressional election.

Source: Census Bureau, Voting and Registration