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The new matchup between Trump and Harris is helping Democrats close the enthusiasm gap, in part by capturing the attention and interest of young voters who historically vote at lower rates than older generations. But the historic nature of Harris’ candidacy as the party’s first Black woman and South Asian presidential nominee, coupled with the rapid shift in the campaign’s tone, has young voters of all political stripes taking a hard look — some for the first time — at the role they could play in November.
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If motivated, Gen Z voters could have a major impact on elections. Texas’ population has the second youngest median age of any state, other than Utah. And in 2020, there were about 1.3 million Texans ages 18 to 24 who were registered to vote. Those voters have historically turned out to vote at rates lower than any other age range, with voter participation rates increasing steadily as age ranges increase.
About 43% of young Texans aged 18-29 voted in 2020 — an eleven point increase from 2016. 66% of all eligible voters and 76% of eligible voters age 64 and older voted that same year.
I think it is possible both Texas and Florida are actually in play come the election. Conventional wisdom focuses on the battleground states, but conventional wisdom would have picked Shapiro over Walz and we see how that went. I think you are right, and I hope the Harris campaign is bold and ambitious here.
Now bear in mind - actually flipping Texas sounds like an almost guaranteed constitutional crisis. But that’s a problem for the future.
We Floridians voted for Obama twice and we’re driving youth and women to the polling booths with abortion and weed on the ballot.
May you have an election this year as lovely as ours was last year
-your sister former swing state of Ohio
I read that North Carolina has gone from leans red to toss-up. We’re making progress!