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Could young voters reshape the balance of power in Congress · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Hundreds of North Carolina college students marched the polls last
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  Speaker 1: week as early voting kicked off in the state. The
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  Speaker 1: march was in response to local officials removing on-campus polling stations.
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  Speaker 1: Voting places were withdrawn from North Carolina AT & T,
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  Speaker 1: America's largest historic black university, and UNC Greensboro. A Board
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  Speaker 1: of Education official says they were pulled because there wasn't
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  Speaker 1: enough parking. Historically, younger Americans have been less likely to
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  Speaker 1: vote than older generations, but experts say the voters under
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  Speaker 1: 30 years old could have a major impact this time.
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  Speaker 1: That's because there are signs Gen Z is motivated to
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  Speaker 1: show up to the polls. A survey of battleground states
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  Speaker 1: last month by Alliance for Youth, Powerpack and YouGov found
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  Speaker 1: that over 80 percent in the 18 to 29-year-old age
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  Speaker 1: bracket said they probably or definitely planned to vote. Asked
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  Speaker 1: for their views on President Trump, respondents in the state
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  Speaker 1: after state were overwhelmingly negative. Like older voters, young Americans
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  Speaker 1: say the cost of living and the economy are weighing heavily.
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  Speaker 1: 43% say their financial situation has gotten worse compared to
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  Speaker 1: a year ago, with only about 16% saying that it's improved.
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  Speaker 1: Let's dig deeper right now with our local impact segment.
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  Speaker 1: Joining us live now is April Baer, host of Stateside
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  Speaker 1: Talk Show on Michigan's Public Radio, and Blaise Gainey, the
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  Speaker 1: Texas State Capitol reporter for NPR's KUT News.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you both for joining us.
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  Speaker 1: April, let me start with you because, you know, historically
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  Speaker 1: there has been a tendency, as I mentioned, to sort
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  Speaker 1: of assume that younger voters are less motivated, that they
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  Speaker 1: feel a little bit more disempowered to come out and vote.
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  Speaker 1: That's not the case especially in midterm elections, by the way,
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  Speaker 1: but that's not the case this time around at all.
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  Speaker 1: Talk to us about some of the factors that are
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  Speaker 1: driving the youth vote, this sort of bracket between 18
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  Speaker 1: and 29, specifically in Michigan.
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  Speaker 3: Zain, I would say that what you mentioned about the
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  Speaker 3: economic insecurity at the moment is something that we've heard
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  Speaker 3: again and again and again. In some places, there are opportunity,
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  Speaker 3: but we spoke with a voter named Corey Bannock. He
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  Speaker 3: came from a very small town in Michigan called Bad Axe,
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  Speaker 3: and he's going to school in Detroit now. And he
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  Speaker 3: was looking for an apartment, said he couldn't find one
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  Speaker 3: in the area close to campus for less than $ 900.
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  Speaker 3: He said he's both hopeful and anxious. And he also
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  Speaker 3: had some concerns about foreign military obligations right now. It's
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  Speaker 3: sort of emblematic of what you see. Michigan has a
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  Speaker 3: few cities like Dearborn where youth populations are surging. And
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  Speaker 3: these are also, probably not incidentally, places that went for
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  Speaker 3: an uncommitted vote in the Democratic primary in 2024. They're
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  Speaker 3: right back out there this year.
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  Speaker 1: And Blaise, let me bring you into the conversation as well.
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  Speaker 1: Is there a difference between what younger male voters are
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  Speaker 1: more energized by versus younger female voters in Texas?
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  Speaker 4: I mean, I think ultimately, yes, but it all boils
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  Speaker 4: down to the same. They want to eventually grow older
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  Speaker 4: and maybe have a family. And right now they're looking
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  Speaker 4: at the job market and looking at how the cost
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  Speaker 4: of living is saying we won't be able to afford
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  Speaker 4: those things. And they're upset about it. And it just
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  Speaker 4: doesn't stop at the cost of living, but also when
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  Speaker 4: you're talking about healthcare and looking at just building a
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  Speaker 4: financially secure life over time. Usually you don't see young
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  Speaker 4: voters caring this much about rent, groceries, and healthcare, but
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  Speaker 4: because of the cost of living is so immense and
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  Speaker 4: gas prices as well, more people are worried about it
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  Speaker 4: than ever.
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  Speaker 1: April, Michigan has a candidate that really does appeal to
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  Speaker 1: the younger population. in Abdul El-Sayed. I mean, he is charismatic.
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  Speaker 1: He's engaging. You know, social media is such an important
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  Speaker 1: landscape for just energizing young people. And if a candidate
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  Speaker 1: is able to not just be clear on messaging, but
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  Speaker 1: really harness the power of social media to their advantage,
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  Speaker 1: they can be a magnet.
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  Speaker 2: In bringing out the youth vote.
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  Speaker 1: How has El-Sayed actually managed to do that this time? Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: we're still two weeks out, so anything could happen. But
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  Speaker 1: he does have an appeal that I think that perhaps
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  Speaker 1: his opponents might struggle with.
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  Speaker 2: Certainly.
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  Speaker 3: He's closer to a digital native than a lot of
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  Speaker 3: other candidates in the race. I should mention he is
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  Speaker 3: 42 years old, which may not sound very young, but
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  Speaker 3: consider that his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, is 63. El-Sayed
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  Speaker 3: has had a very strong presence on social media with
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  Speaker 3: his trademark V-neck black T-shirt and appearances with people like
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  Speaker 3: New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani. He has repeated again and
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  Speaker 3: again his relentless opposition to the Trump administration and Republican
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  Speaker 3: members of Congress. And he's been able to create a
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  Speaker 3: profile that has ranged from lip-syncing to Taylor Swift songs
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  Speaker 3: wearing a cowboy hat to appearing at pretty decent-sized rallies
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  Speaker 3: in Michigan's rural Upper Peninsula. The latest ad that shows that,
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  Speaker 3: someone I was working with mentioned it looks exactly like
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  Speaker 3: a Nike ad right now. And so his blitz, both
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  Speaker 3: online and in late stage campaign TV spots, in addition
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  Speaker 3: to those digital ads, is a lot of what's brought
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  Speaker 3: into the attention of younger voters and really held their attention.
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  Speaker 1: And Blaise, it's a similar thing for James Tallarico, right?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's correct. I mean, he's dominated social media even
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  Speaker 4: before announcing he'd run in this race. And his opponent,
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  Speaker 4: Ken Paxton, is, you know, no. A lot of people
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  Speaker 4: know he's just really not that good at public speaking.
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  Speaker 4: So he doesn't have a lot of clips that he
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  Speaker 4: can necessarily go viral for in the same way that
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  Speaker 4: Tallarico does. So it's definitely in the same landmark. And
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  Speaker 4: the age difference beyond the two is at least 20
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  Speaker 4: years plus.
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  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things that I'm curious about,
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  Speaker 1: and April, I'll have you answer this question, is there's
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  Speaker 1: a big difference, as we've seen in previous elections, between
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  Speaker 1: the stated intentions of a voter and actually what they
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  Speaker 1: actually do on election day. It's one thing to say,
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  Speaker 1: you know, yes, I'm going to vote. I'm so motivated.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, me and my friends, we're definitely going to vote.
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  Speaker 1: You know, this time we've had enough of the cost
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  Speaker 1: of living. We're absolutely going to vote for Tallarico or
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  Speaker 1: El Sayed. It's another thing in terms of what they
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  Speaker 1: actually do on election day. What can we be sure
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  Speaker 1: of at this point in time about what young voters
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  Speaker 1: actually intend and will do in Michigan?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's worth noting that in 2024, Michigan beat the
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  Speaker 3: national average for young voters actually going to the polls.
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  Speaker 3: 58 percent of people aged 18 to 29 in Michigan
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  Speaker 3: voted in 2024. And the early polling suggests, at least
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  Speaker 3: at this point, that we might be in for a
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  Speaker 3: similar performance this year. It's also worth noting that Michigan
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  Speaker 3: has had some success engaging vote by mail. It's very
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  Speaker 3: standard in some states, but this is a little bit
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  Speaker 3: new in Michigan. There is some reason to believe that
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  Speaker 3: between vote by mail and in-person early voting, that these
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  Speaker 3: younger voters do have big opportunities that they might not
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  Speaker 3: have had 10 or 20 years ago. You look at
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  Speaker 3: places like East Lansing that's home to Michigan State University
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  Speaker 3: or the University of Michigan. Some of these places have
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  Speaker 3: really gone out of their way to make sure that
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  Speaker 3: there is available space and equipment for voting, machinery for voting.
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  Speaker 3: Michigan's Secretary of State has historically prioritized this in her term.
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  Speaker 3: By the way, she's also a candidate who's running for
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  Speaker 3: governor in our.
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  Speaker 1: State this year.
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  Speaker 2: And Blaise, final question to you.
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  Speaker 1: One of the reasons why the youth vote has been
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  Speaker 1: so hard to galvanize in previous midterm elections is that
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  Speaker 1: young people sometimes feel that no party has really the
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  Speaker 1: answer to their prayers. So whether it's cost of living,
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  Speaker 1: whether they're dealing with economic uncertainty, sometimes it's hard to
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  Speaker 1: convince younger people, because of maybe a distrust in the
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  Speaker 1: political system more broadly, that any party can solve their problems.
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  Speaker 2: Why is that different this time around?
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  Speaker 4: I mean, honestly, I don't think it is different, but
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  Speaker 4: I think a lot of people are upset with what
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  Speaker 4: they see going on right now. Here in Texas, you
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  Speaker 4: have to remember that there's been a 30-year reign of
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  Speaker 4: Republicans ruling the state. So if you are upset with,
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  Speaker 4: you know, essentially that covers the lifespan of a young voter.
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  Speaker 4: So if they're upset with the system, that means they're
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  Speaker 4: essentially upset with the Republican Party. Therefore, they may say, well, yeah,
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  Speaker 4: my vote doesn't seem like it will change anything, but
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  Speaker 4: I want to at least try and give Democrats a
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  Speaker 4: chance and see what they can do because they haven't
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  Speaker 4: had a chance since essentially the 2000s or in 1990s.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, because one of the issues that is really fueling
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  Speaker 1: the cost of living is, of course, rising gas prices.
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  Speaker 1: And a lot of that is because of the war
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  Speaker 1: in Iran. And that's something that the president is in
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  Speaker 1: control of, as we know.
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  Speaker 2: All right. Thank you both, April and Blaise. Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: We'll see what happens in two weeks, right?
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  Speaker 1: Thank you both so much for joining us.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks for having us.