Vice President Kamala Harris, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, may need strong support from Gen Z voters if she wants to defeat former President Donald Trump in November’s election.
Many Gen Z voters, ages 18 to 27, will be voting for the first time in this year’s election. Younger voters have historically favored Democratic candidates over Republicans, but polls of the hypothetical Trump-Harris matchup suggest this election may be different.
The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted July 19-21 – which ended the day President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris – found that Trump led the vice president by a wide margin of 19 points (58 percent to 39 percent) among voters ages 18 to 34, which includes Gen Z and some millennials.
But there is limited polling on the Trump-Harris matchup, and some of the surveys have produced widely differing results: A Civiqs tracking survey conducted over a two-week period ending July 21 found that voters ages 18-34 favored Harris over Trump by 20 points, with 57% of respondents supporting Harris and 37% supporting Trump.
Can Kamala Harris win over Gen Z voters? Can Kamala Harris win over Gen Z voters? Photo credit: Newsweek/Getty
A Marist/NPR/PBS News poll conducted Monday found Harris leading Trump among Gen Z and millennial voters, 47 percent to 42 percent. Polling data gauging preferences of Gen Z alone remains hard to come by.
Syracuse University political science professor Grant Davis Lihir told Newsweek in an email that he was “surprised” by the results of the Quinnipiac poll, which was conducted by phone, a method of communication that many young people may be shying away from in favor of texting.
Richer predicts that Harris will quickly gain popularity among Gen Z voters, explaining, “As Harris’ name recognition grows in the coming weeks, the age difference between the two candidates will become clearer and there will be an opportunity for Harris to communicate where she stands on the issues this generation cares most about.”
Harris has already received an unexpected but impactful endorsement from Gen Z star Charli XCX. “Kamala is a brat,” the British pop star wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, referencing Harris’ album, “Brat.”
The idea of a “brat summer” has recently become popular online among Gen Z. Charli XCX describes a “brat” as “a girl who’s a little bit messy and likes to party and might say stupid things sometimes” but who “likes to hang out and party.” [and] Very honest and forthright.”
Harris’ campaign has welcomed the endorsement, with the vice president’s official campaign accounts across multiple social media platforms, “Kamala HQ,” setting their cover photos to look like the Brat album.
Dan Lamb, a senior lecturer at Cornell University’s Brooks School of Public Policy, said in an email to Newsweek that Biden’s endorsement of Harris “resets the dynamics of the race,” adding that “the President’s repeated references to Harris as a ‘kid’ this week highlight a generational shift at the top of the candidate ranks.”
“Harris has made solid inroads this week with sharp speeches and contrasts in style and substance with Trump,” Lamb said. “Harris has been trending on social media with memes about ‘brats’ and ‘coconuts’ that have resonated with young voters.”
“Younger voters strongly supported Biden/Harris in 2020, leading all groups in terms of increased voter turnout compared to 2016,” he continued. “To gain the same level of support, the Harris campaign will likely emphasize issues that young voters care about, such as health care, housing, employment, reproductive rights, gun safety and climate change.”
“Harris has the potential to connect strongly with Gen Z voters through her use of social media and her stances on important issues that resonate with younger generations,” political analyst Craig Agranoff told Newsweek in a text message.
“To expand their reach, they should focus on more interactive and authentic ways of engagement,” Agranoff said. “This could include hosting virtual town halls, participating on popular Gen Z platforms like TikTok, and collaborating with influencers who have a strong following among younger voters.”
“Furthermore, addressing the issues in an empathetic and honest way and demonstrating a true understanding of Gen Z’s concerns will help bridge the gap and build a stronger connection with this age group,” he added.
As in previous elections, the enthusiasm and turnout of Gen Z voters could have a major impact in an election where the outcome could be decided by a relatively small number of votes in key battleground states.
“The big issue for this age group is voter turnout,” Lihir said. “This age group has the lowest voter turnout of any age group. Democrats have been trying to appeal to and mobilize this age group for some time now, with some success from some candidates. Can Kamala Harris replicate, at least to a limited extent, the success of Barack Obama? That’s the big question.”
“One of the interesting things about this situation is that the public knows Trump very well, and the same is true of Biden,” he added. “When you add in the relative unknown nature of the 10th hour, if not the last minute, it makes everything that much more unpredictable.”
Recent polls suggest a widening gender gap in Gen Z’s political leanings, with women becoming more liberal and men becoming more conservative, and Lihir said Harris’ “historic” candidacy “will appeal to women and non-white voters in this age group.”
“Most ways of analyzing politics from a generational perspective exaggerate generational gaps within specific demographic groups,” D. Steven Foss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, told Newsweek in an email, arguing that political divisions are better explained by “race and ethnicity” across all age groups.
Vos added that if Harris’ campaign wants to appeal specifically to Gen Z, they could use rhetoric that plays into the generation’s “higher anxiety” and “moral strength” compared to slightly older millennials.
“Joe Biden’s superhero movie-like rhetoric in 2020 — a tale of light versus dark — seems geared toward younger voters, and Harris may want to emulate that,” Vos said. “We’re already seeing artwork depicting Harris as a superhero, which is consistent with the good versus evil messaging Democrats used against Trump in the last presidential election.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
