TikTok posts. Polls. Coconut emojis.
They all come to the same conclusion: the country’s youngest Democratic voters are enthusiastic about Vice President Kamala Harris.
That enthusiasm is spilling over offline, says Kim Agyekum, president of the Ohio Young Democrats, who has watched as sparsely attended campaign events have seen the number of voters grow from 10 loyal door-to-door voters to more than 50 young Democrats eager to vote for Harris.
“People compare this energy to 2008,” says Agyekum, 29, a younger millennial who was 13 when Democrat Barack Obama won the presidency. “We just have to pretend it’s 2008, because that’s what this energy feels like, and there’s a lot of momentum here to make something really cool happen.”
Voters who turn 18 in 2024 likely have no memory of this election; they were just two years old. These youngest voters, who belong to Generation Z, were 10 years old when former President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again movement defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced their high schools to close, partially interrupting their youth. They watched Black Lives Matter protests respond to the deaths of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida, 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis. And now they’re starting college – assuming they attend a traditional four-year program – at a time when they’re burdened with large student loans.
“It was a turbulent time growing up in this era,” Agyekum said. “We’re basically looking for the same opportunities that previous generations had to achieve the American dream. It feels a little difficult right now.”
How to be a Democrat in a red district
Christian Pearson, 18, is used to being the underdog in Marion, a county that backed Trump over Biden by nearly 39 percentage points in 2020. In kindergarten, Pearson once got in trouble for yelling pro-Obama votes while waiting in line.
“It’s not the easiest thing in the world” to be a Democrat in Marion County, Pearson said. That’s because Democrats are fighting an uphill battle there. “As long as you’re a Republican and you say things that Trump says, you don’t have to be qualified at all.”
Pearson’s grandmother, Michelle Pearson, was active in Marion County Democratic politics, serving on the Marion City Council and as the county’s treasurer and auditor, so when he saw an ad for Democratic delegates on Facebook, he wrote a short speech at the last minute and tried.
Pearson was rewarded with a standing ovation and a spot as one of Ohio’s more than 140 delegates, the state’s youngest delegate poised to support Biden, the country’s oldest presidential candidate, in Chicago.
“It’s kind of a shame that his age disqualified him because he could have had such a great track record,” Pearson said. But Harris’ candidacy is giving the party new momentum. “It has sparked a whole new enthusiasm.”
To be clear, it is much easier to mobilize young voters when the candidate is 59 years old than when he is 81.
“For the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, she definitely motivates us a lot more than President Biden,” said Jason Adams, 18, of Zanesville, one of Ohio’s youngest delegates. “Also, the fact that she is 20 years younger than President Biden has helped a lot in gaining support from younger people.”
Adams helped found the Young Democrats chapter in Muskingum County, which Trump won by 39 percentage points in 2020. “There’s definitely a sense of purpose here, even when you’re outnumbered,” he said.
Adams said he was a Democrat because Republican policies did not work for him and his family.
“I grew up poor and in a poor neighborhood. My dad and mom had to choose which bills to pay, sometimes even today,” Adams said. “Seeing my grandfather have to choose between health insurance and debt was a real motivation for me to do something to make things a little better.”
How to reach young voters: online and with their issues
Ohio’s youngest delegates say both the message and the messenger are important to reaching their peers, who consume politics largely online. That’s why Harris’ campaign is relying much more heavily on social media than Biden’s.
For Agyekum, the first black woman to lead the Ohio Young Democrats, it was significant to see someone who looked like her as the party’s candidate. “I’m very excited about her candidacy.”
As for the message, Adams said young voters are looking for candidates who will defend LGBTQ and abortion rights. “They’re also looking for people who will make it more affordable for them to go to college, get an education, enter the workforce and protect their retirement.”
And these young delegates are excited to be participating in this discussion at the DNC in Chicago.
“This is a great opportunity for young people to shape what we think of the Democratic Party,” Pearson said. “We are the ones who have to live with the outcome of this election. If Trump wins again, we have to clean up the mess.”
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which covers the Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio..
