Arizonans — many of them young Gen Z voters — cast ballots on March 19 in the state’s presidential preference election.
Nationally, 41 million members of Gen Z will be eligible to vote in the coming 2024 election, according to data from Tufts’ Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, making the group an increasingly influential voting block.
“A big part of the Obama coalition was youth voters,” said University of Arizona Assistant Professor of Practice Spencer Lindsay. “They tend to be lower propensity voters than older voters, but that is changing. Young voters, I believe, are turning out more now than they ever have.”
According to another 2021 Tufts study, roughly 50% of young people between the ages of 18-29 voted in the 2020 presidential election, an 11-point jump from 2016.
These young voters have their own unique set of political beliefs and priorities.
Lindsay said that studies, including surveys conducted by Tufts, have found that the top issues for young voters are the economy, climate change and gun control.
Climate change, in particular, seems to be an existential concern for many young voters.
“I think our generation is able to see climate change as more of a threat than other generations because we’re living it, and we’re firsthand experiencing the ramifications of not taking care of our environment,” said Isabel Hiserodt, executive vice president of the Arizona Young Democrats. “We’re living through the effects of a lot of issues that older generations haven’t lived through.”
“Older generations haven’t had to have active shooter drills at their schools,” she said. “They didn’t grow up with climate change. For those who grew up past Roe being instituted in the first place, abortion was protected for the majority of their lives.”
For Hiserod and many other young Americans, the No. 1 issue right now is protecting reproductive rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
“I think that’s probably one of the main reasons why we saw such a big youth turnout in 2022,” she said.
GraceMarie Theesfeld, chair of the youth committee for the League of Women Voters, said that there has also been a lot of frustration and upset among young people over the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Young voters are much more sympathetic to Palestine than older voters,” Lindsay said.
Perhaps the most common concern among voters of all ages and affiliations is the economy, with issues like inflation, unemployment and wage inequality disproportionately affecting young people, according to Lindsay.
“I feel like that’s the biggest issue recently that I’m hearing about,” Theesfeld said. “When you’re living on a really tight budget, and all of these things are costing hundreds of dollars every month, it’s really tough to be able to just afford to live.”
Ricky Guthrige, vice chair of the University of Arizona College Republicans, also cited the economy as a major area of political concern.
“Housing prices have increased to the point where it’s no longer sustainable to even own a home,” Guthrige said.
Young conservative voters also have their own specific political priorities.
“Immigration itself is the biggest issue,” Guthrige said. “There’s some pro-life issues that I do see a little bit of movement and traction on, especially among young Christian conservatives.”
Beyond political platform, young voters also seem to be searching for more motivating and more relatable candidates. With the front running presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump being 81 and 77 years old respectively, some young voters feel unsatisfied with their choices of candidates going into the 2024 election.
“I really think neither of them are good,” said UA student Skye Garrett. “It’s very stereotypical, but I do feel like they’re really old.”
It’s a classic problem in American politics.
“Older voters are significantly more likely to vote than younger voters,” Lindsay said. “And this arguably leads to certain policies being written for older people, which further disengages younger people.”
“We need someone to represent us,” Theesfeld said. “I feel like young people don’t have that trust that their needs and wants and desires are being properly represented.”
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.