Latest news with #VotersofTomorrow
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gen Z-led group launches $3M in youth voter mobilization
A Generation Z-led group aligned with Democrats is launching a $3 million youth voter mobilization effort ahead of next year's midterms. The group Voters of Tomorrow said the effort, shared first with The Hill, will target 18 competitive House districts across the country. The push is aimed at providing 'training, stipends, and support to empower campus organizers to engage their peers directly in districts where young voters have the power to decide the outcome,' according to a press release from the group. Among the House districts being targeted are Colorado's 8th Congressional District; Nebraska's 2nd District; New York's 1st District; and California's 13th, 45th and 47th districts. Most of the districts are rated as a 'toss-up' by election forecasters at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The effort shows how some Democratic-aligned organizations are already making early investments to win back some of the young voters the party lost to President Trump in the November election. A report from the Democratic data firm Catalist found the Democratic Party last year saw a 6-point drop in support among voters ages 18 to 29 compared to 2020, decreasing from 61 percent to 55 percent. Among young men, the decline was 9 points. The House's slim majority offers Democrats their best chance at flipping one of the chambers, with the Senate map offering a more challenging terrain. 'To stop Trump's dangerous agenda, we need to take back the House. Student voters have the numbers to flip key races, yet too often we're overlooked by major funders,' Kaya Jones, programming director at Voters of Tomorrow, said in a statement. 'We're proud to be making this necessary investment in young people, and we urge others to follow our lead. The future is on the ballot and so are we.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Gen Z-led group launches $3M in youth voter mobilization
A Gen Z-led group aligned with Democrats is launching a $3 million youth voter mobilization effort ahead of next year's midterms. The group Voters of Tomorrow said the effort, shared first with The Hill, will target 18 competitive House districts across the country. The push is aimed at providing 'training, stipends, and support to empower campus organizers to engage their peers directly in districts where young voters have the power to decide the outcome,' according to a press release from the group. Among the House districts being targeted are California's 13th, 45th and 47th Congressional Districts; Nebraska's 2nd District; New York's 1st District; and Colorado's 8th District, among others. Most of the districts are rated as 'toss-up' by election forecasters at the non-partisan Cook Political Report. The effort shows how some Democratic-aligned organizations are already making early investments to win back some of the young voters the party lost to President Trump in the November election. A report from the Democratic data firm Catalist found the Democratic Party last year saw a 6-point drop in support among voters ages 18 to 29 compared to 2020, from 61 percent to 55 percent. Among young men, the decline was 9 points. The House's slim majority offers Democrats their best chance at flipping one of the chambers, with the Senate map offering a more challenging terrain. 'To stop Trump's dangerous agenda, we need to take back the House. Student voters have the numbers to flip key races, yet too often we're overlooked by major funders,' said Kaya Jones, programming director at Voters of Tomorrow, in a statement. 'We're proud to be making this necessary investment in young people, and we urge others to follow our lead. The future is on the ballot and so are we.'
Boston Globe
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Senator Ed Markey won his 2020 reelection thanks to the Markeyverse. Can he convince young people to support him again?
It's a disenchantment that applies to the 78-year-old senator Agarwal once championed. 'I probably wouldn't vote for him again because I think he's old and needs to go‚' Agarwal said of Markey. 'I want politicians who feel like they're fighting for something rather than letting the time pass them by. . . . I want Democrats to have a little bit of life in them.' That attitude captures the potential challenge awaiting Markey as he mounts his reelection campaign at an extraordinary and chaotic political moment. Advertisement During his last election, Markey beat back his youthful, glamorous challenger by connecting with young progressives drawn to his This skepticism extends to Markey. In the never-ending parlor game of Massachusetts politics, some party insiders whisper his age makes him vulnerable. Private polls have reportedly circulated testing how Markey would fare in 2026 against younger Democrats such as Representatives Jake Auchincloss and Ayanna Pressley. Advertisement Markey praising him as a still-vibrant warrior But several young people who aided his last race said they don't believe Markey is the right fit as the party searches for fresh energy. It's a split that reflects a broader divide among young voters Democrats must navigate as they chart their political future. 'Voters are trying to find leadership in the party and find somebody who will stand up for the values Democrats care about and . . . all elected officials are struggling with that now, including Senator Markey,' said Doug Rubin, a Massachusetts Democratic consultant not involved in the race. 'Anybody running for office in the next two years on the Democratic side has to try to figure out, how do they understand where voters are and lead the Democratic party to a better place?' In 2020, voters under 30 turned out in record numbers and supported Biden by more than 20 percentage points over Trump. Last year, far fewer young voters showed up, expressing broad dissatisfaction with both candidates. Many who did vote pivoted rightward due to the economy; Vice President Kamala Harris won young voters by just 4 percentage points, Advertisement 'The disillusionment with the system is at an all-time high with young people, and I don't think Democrats have honestly done enough to rebuild that trust,' said Jessica Siles with Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen Z advocacy group that 'For a lot of people, the damage has already been done,' Siles said. Among young people, there is a feeling of 'let's get new people in to rebuild that trust and be the candidates [we] want to see.' Markey believes he is still that candidate. '2024 showed us that we need to rebuild trust with young people. We need to listen to them and join them in the places where they are,' Markey said in a statement, pointing to issues such as affordability and climate action. 'That's what this moment demands, and that is who and what I am fighting for.' Markey faced an uphill battle in 2020 as the campaign online, which Markey's campaign was 'uniquely prepared for,' said its former digital director Paul Bologna. Unhappy with Biden, young progressives were looking for somewhere to channel their support. Markey's climate advocacy 'Young people were organically coming to us,' said Bologna, who now works for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. He pointed to dozens of social media pages that promoted Markey, saying, 'It was very exciting and also gave us a lot of hope at a time when the country and the world was seemingly heading down the toilet.' Advertisement In subsequent years, however, while some campaign fellows stayed in politics, other campaign — — criticized him after the war in Israel and Gaza began and rebranded to say they were 'holding him accountable.' Over 1,000 former supporters signed a page calling on Markey to support a cease-fire, which To Emerson Toomey, who helped run 'edsreplyguys' while attending Northeastern University, 'a lot of people had very strong opinions about the Kennedy family, so it was kind of this perfect storm, lighting-in-a-bottle moment' in 2020. Since then, Markey 'hasn't really been moving the needle on anything he's promised, and a lot of young people were disillusioned by working on the campaign and after the campaign,' said Toomey, now a graduate student at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. 'He's not going to have the same support that he had last time.' Agarwal, for instance, moved away from politics after he said Markey's 2020 campaign told him they would pay him for Markey has pushed ahead with a reelection bid even as some colleagues are bowing out. Two Democratic senators — Gary Peters of Michigan, 66, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, 78 — announced they would not seek reelection next year. Shaheen's Advertisement No one has mounted a serious challenge to Markey yet — though Auchincloss and Pressley, asked by reporters, Still, taking on Markey would be challenging, local political strategists say, in a year expected to be a referendum on Trump. Several doubted a moderate Democrat could prevail in a deep-blue state where primary voters often tack left. And his defenders say age isn't everything: Young people have coalesced behind octogenarian politicians In 2024, Biden's age 'became obviously a significant issue, and people could naturally think about whether their senator, representative, governor who was older was also maybe ready for retirement,' said Mark Horan, a former Markey adviser. 'That's been blown away by the gale-force winds of Donald Trump and Elon Musk — I just don't think people are noodling over that stuff right now.' The Sunrise Movement, meanwhile, has stood by Markey despite criticizing other Democrats. Their political director, Stevie O'Hanlon, pointed to Markey's 'Markey understands that to stop Trump's agenda, we need to . . . build a grass-roots movement around the country, and that is really aligned with how young people are seeing this moment,' O'Hanlon said. 'There's a lot of frustration with politicians like Chuck Schumer who I think appear to many young people asleep at the wheel, and I don't think that's how people feel about Ed Markey.' Advertisement Markey has also expanded outreach to young people by In 2020, 'the argument against Senator Markey was based on generational status and age, and Kennedy lost that battle,' said Tatishe Nteta, a political scientist at UMass Amherst. 'I just don't see any of the sort-of-young Democrats in this state deciding to repeat the challenge Kennedy made.' 'But,' he added, 'you never know — ambition is a hell of a drug.' Anjali Huynh can be reached at
