Kamala Harris makes final push with Gen Z amid uncertainty key Democrat group will show up to the polls
On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris has been singling out one specific group of voters as she makes her closing pitch in the 2024 election.
On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris has been singling out one specific group of voters as she makes her closing pitch in the 2024 election.
‘Do we have anybody here from Gen-Z?’ Harris asked at her rally in Houston after being introduced by Beyonce. ‘Where are you at?’
‘I want to speak specifically to all the young leaders, all the students who are here today,’ the vice president said at a rally near the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor this week.
‘I want to speak to you for a moment. So, I love your generation,’ she declared.
At rallies in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Wednesday, she gave more shoutouts and called for supporters to give first-time voters and young leaders a round of applause.
Harris goes on to praise Gen Z for its impatience for change, leading on the climate crisis, fighting for school safety and standing up for reproductive rights.
Vice President Kamala Harris arriving at her Get Out The Vote rally in Madison, WI which was attended by a number of university students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Her specific focus on these voters comes as there is uncertainty over whether Gen Z will show up for Democrats on Election Day.
More than 41 million young people are eligible to cast ballots in the 2024 election.
Young voters have largely backed the Democratic party in the past. But with frustration at the general gridlock, anger over the war in Gaza and Donald Trump courting young men, there are questions about a shift with young people or whether they will show up at all.
The latest ABC News/Ipsos poll of likely voters shows Harris leading Trump among voters 18 to 29 by fourteen points, 56 percent to 42 percent.
That is down from the 2020 election exit polling where Biden had a 24-point lead among young voters over Trump 60 percent to 36 percent.
But on a call on Friday Gen Z Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost predicted the election will see the largest turnout of young voters ever.
Both campaigns have been going to Gen Z voters where they are, be it podcasts or on TikTok and Instagram, even Fortnite, but Harris has also been heading into young voter rich areas in swing states in the final stretch to juice up support.
Harris holding a rally in Ann Arbor, MI on October 28, home of the University of Michigan
Grammy-nominated singer Maggie Rogers performing at the Ann Arbor Harris rally
On Monday, the vice president held a campaign rally in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan. College students in the state can cast their ballots absentee back home, or they can vote using their Michigan address.
There are roughly 33,000 undergraduate students alone at the university. Just under half are from out of state.
Harris has been bringing in some of Gen Z’s favorite entertainers to help. Grammy-nominated singer Maggie Rogers performed in Ann Arbor and urged people to get out and vote under a banner in the school’s blue and yellow colors.
During the event, the vice president asked for a show of hands of first-time voters. A significant number of hands in the crowd of 21,000 went up.
Students walking out of the building at the University of Michigan where students were lining up to participate in early voting
The line inside an University of Michigan campus polling location as well as map showing where students were casting their ballots. a large number of silver pins marked Michigan
At a Michigan polling location in the heart of campus, there was a steady stream of young voters lining up to cast their ballots as early voting began October 26. The state also has same-day voting registration.
While voting, students could place a pin on a large map of where they were voting across the United States.
It shows people are voting all over the country, but there were a significantly larger number of pins crammed around Ann Arbor, a boost in the crucial battleground.
Among young Michigan voters is 23-year-old Isabella Michaelis from New York. She is a Harris supporter.
Her top issue in the election is reproductive rights. She said it has been front and center in her friend group.
‘I think there’s a lot of burden on young women to educate the young men in their life, but at least the people I surround myself with, we’re doing that work, and we’re really helping our friends get out to vote,’ she said.
For 19-year-old Harris supporter Lola Martin from Michigan, reproductive rights was also her number one issue.
‘I would 1,000 percent say reproductive rights,’ Martin said. ‘There are many others, but that’s the first one that comes to mind.’
People waiting to register for early voting at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
Reproductive rights is one of Harris strongest issues, giving her a clear contrast and one of her sharpest lines of attack against Trump.
Protecting reproductive rights is one of the biggest applause lines in the vice presidents stump speech on the campaign trail. Among many women, and even some men at her rallies, its the first issue that comes up.
When you ask young people what the top issue on their mind is, young women are more likely to say abortion or womens rights while young men are more likely to list the economy, said Rachel Janfaza, a member of Gen Z who has been conducting focus groups with young potential voters across the country.
Janfaza said housing affordability is another issue that has come up in her listening sessions, which could help Harris who has been talking about her plan for first time home buyers on the road.
Other topics that came up in Ann Arbor were climate change and the war in Gaza, but it did not appear to be the deciding factor.
The war in Gaza has plagued Harris across the country with protesters showing up and interrupting her rallies including her Get Out The Vote rally in Ann Arbor.
‘On the subject of Gaza, we all want this war to end as soon as possible and get the hostages out,’ Harris responded to the protesters that night. ‘I will do everything in my power to make it so.’
As she held rallies in three separate battleground states on Wednesday, all three were interrupted by protesters as well, but it might not depress the youth vote overall.
I do not think that is going to be a reason why a large part of the youth electorate doesnt vote or doesnt vote for Harris, Janfaza said of her listening sessions.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at a rally in Madison, Wi on October 30. She was introduced by a University of WI student and gave Gen Z and first time voters a shoutout
With less than a week to go before Election Day, Harris held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, home of University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday. There are more than 50,000 students in school there including roughly half from out of state.
Students are eligible to vote at their Wisconsin residents if not voting in their home state and can register during early voting or on Election Day, and Dane County happens to be is the fastest growing county in the state.
The Harris-Walz table not far from a polling location at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Harris-Walz campaign had a visible presence on campus. At a table set up directly across from a polling location on campus with a team member was encouraging students to sign up to volunteer as well as vote.
There is a seven-member team of organizers on campus in the state and a youth organizing director, according to the campaign.
Multiple signs directed students on campus where to go to participate in early voting.
There women backing Harris were also talking reproductive rights.
Its so important that women are able to make that choice when they are in a situation that they need to, and I think that theres a lot of people in this country that dont understand that, said Ellen Murphy, a 20-year-old Wisconsin voter from Minnesota. She called the situation so frightening.
Being able to at least know if you ever were in a situation where your life is on the line or you arent able to have a child for whatever reason it is for you personally, that is a very difficult decision, she said. Thats why its so important that women are able to make that choice on their own.
She shared that there was an event ahead of the election completely centered on women coming together and calling on their friends who are men to vote.
Women on campus said it was a mixed bag when it comes to their male peers. Some they believe are showing up in support of reproductive rights.
Also breaking through: the conservative Project 2025 agenda.
Even just the idea that Project 2025 existing and having that be something that could be implemented anywhere possibly, its absolutely terrifying and mind-blowing, said Jessie Maus, 20.
Kamala Harris meeting with members of the Wisconsin Badgers womens basketball team during her stop in Madison on October 30
Marcus Mumford from Mumford & Sons at the Get Out The Vote rally where the band was performing for Harris
Singer Gracie Abrams performing at the Harris rally in Madison, WI. Students could take buses from campus to the arena for the campaign event and concert
In Madison, Harris also brought out star-power with a Get Out the Vote concert featuring performances by Gracie Abrams, Remi Wolf, Mumford and Sons and members of The National.
Supporters waved red vote signs in a nod to the universitys colors. There was also a massive red Badgers for Harris-Walz banner in an arena that was packed with students who could hop a bus there from campus.
Multiple speakers gave the school and its student voters shoutouts.
But at the end of the day, when it comes to winning, the race will all come down to turnout including among young people.
More than 50 million people have already voted in the election. Democrats have a slight edge nationally in early voting, but more Republicans are getting in on it.
At the same time, women have outpaced men in early voting, according to TargetSmart, which could be a good sign for Harris.
Students filling out registration forms to participate in early voting at University of Wisconsin
When it comes to young voters, they’re overwhelmingly more likely to vote on Election Day, meaning the push to get them to the polls will continue until the very end.
What young people have been clearly doing is registering to vote. Since Harris became the nominee, the share of new registrants ages 18 to 29 is up four points compared to 2020 in battleground states, TargetSmarts analysis found.
One of the places with the largest jumps was actually Arizona where new registrations among young voters is up 15 points from the same time in 2020, and up 13 points among young black and hispanic voters.
Pennsylvania also saw a large jump - 11 points -compared to the the same time period in 2020.
The modeling has found registrations among young people for Democrats is up from where it was at this point in 2020 and 2022.
TargetSmart’s Tom Bonier said despite Trump targeting young men, the push has not been reflected in the voter registration data so far.
It also is notable that more young people are likely to register as unaffiliated voters thus not being reflected in Democrat versus Republican registration data.
Another sign that could be good news for Harris, as polling shows a double-digit gender gap, is more women are registering to vote in battleground states.
In more recent elections such as the 2022 midterm, younger women were a key group turning out to vote.
But another wrench in reading too much into any of the data just yet, recent polling showed Gen Z were the most likely to lie to someone close to them about who they are voting for.
