Funviralpark Republicans are urging the party to better engage with younger voters after Gen Z voters swept Democrats in November’s midterm elections, leading to major congressional and gubernatorial elections. is making a difference.
The party has long struggled to attract young voters, but the 2022 midterm elections underscored the scope of those struggles. Now, the Republican is out to the party by finding more Gen Z representatives for her, engaging with younger voters on social media platforms, and talking about issues voters care about. We are asking you to strengthen your reach.
“You can’t expect to win votes if you ignore people’s basic and more cultural concerns. It’s just there, and it’s costing the election,” said veteran Republican strategist Keith Norton.
Analysis by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University suggests that turnout among 18-29-year-olds in 2022 will be the second highest in 30 years. . midterm elections. In the House election alone, the demographic favored the Democratic candidate 63% to 35% against the Republican candidate, and has remained fairly consistent since 2020, down from 2018, when the margin was 67% to 32%. decreased slightly.
Overall, CIRCLE’s analysis of Edison Research’s National Election Poll Survey estimated that more than a quarter of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 voted during the November midterm elections, often in hotly contested areas. plays an important role in
David Morgan, a Pennsylvania State University senior and political director of the Pennsylvania State Republican Party, believes the Republican Party faces challenges with young voters because they don’t talk about social policies and issues. I’m here.
“Better health care, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, etc… Climate change, these issues are big for Gen Z. And things like political parties are a little slow to initially understand these kinds of issues. Because … I think our generation has automatically leaned toward the Democratic Party,” he pointed out.
Other Republicans said the problem wasn’t just with the content of the message, but also with the method of communication.
“We tend to do a lot of things wrong when we talk to young voters. .
“Our party has said that for privacy and security reasons, we cannot participate in TikTok,” he added. Because an entire generation of us isn’t talking to them there, even though it’s grown to be the number one news source.”
However, CIRCLE’s analysis of AP VoteCast data and election results from other news outlets suggests that Generation Z voters and millennials were crucial in determining the most competitive elections. increase. CIRCLE found that a young man aged 18 to her 29 offered her 60,000 votes to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the Arizona gubernatorial race.
And in the Georgia Senate election, CIRCLE analysis found that Senator Raphael Warnock (Democrat) won 116,000 votes from that stratum in the general election. Warnock took his first place in the November election, about 37,000 votes behind Republican Herschel Walker. The race later went to a run-off, which was won by Warnock.
“It’s a very secular cohort, a very progressive cohort on social issues. Very concerned about climate change, very concerned about gun violence, [which] “The problem really works in favor of the Democrats because they think it’s their generation’s problem,” said Serinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who worked on President Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. said.
Lake suggests that voters between the ages of 18 and 29 are opposed to former President Trump and his ideology, saying, “They’re not necessarily happy with the Democratic Party. No, but two-thirds strongly believe in the role of government.”
Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (Republican), president of the Young America Foundation, calls it “liberal indoctrination.” The idea is that young voters are less likely to be introduced to multiple schools of thought on an issue, including opinions that are seen as off-center. At least partially responsible for the party’s challenges.
“I don’t think the consultant class in Washington, who thinks that smarter digital advertising or some kind of student union would make a difference, doesn’t understand what they’re up against,” Walker said. .
Some Republicans see an opportunity in the latest election results. Andrew Corbett, a spokesperson for the conservative Turning Point Action, noted in an exit poll released by CNN that from age 18 to 24, his 61 percent voted Democrat. He voted for his party.
Meanwhile, 63% of voters aged 18-29 voted Democrat in 2022, compared to 35% who voted Republican. This is a slight dip in both of these demographics compared to 2018, when 67% of the same demographic voted Democrat, while 32% of him voted Republican. suggests.
Of course, these numbers still underscore the difficulties Republicans face with young people. And while members see this as an issue that dates back a while, Republicans say it’s a problem that requires dedicated infrastructure to tackle this age gap.
“I’m not trying to throw an RNC [Republican National Committee] We’re under the bus here, but I think within the Republican Party there’s a lot of focus on fundraising. This is an unhealthy imbalance in certain types of voters and people they meet. Tyler Bowyer, Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point Action and member of his RNC National Board in Arizona, said:
He explained that Republicans have a “great oceanic gap” between the baby boomers and the Millennial/Generation Z camp.
“There’s the old guard trying to raise money for the baby boomers, and there’s this giant bucket of millennials/Generation Z, and right now the biggest part of the voters we have to watch. and we don’t have enough money people, we don’t have enough money for that group so it’s worth it for the old guards. We don’t have the know-how and experience,” continued Bowyer, a millennial.
“So this is an opportunity for us to move forward, but to look at this and say, ‘We need to do more work in the influencer space, we need to do more work in social media,’ it really takes We need innovative leadership space. We need to do more about how we get the message out and who gets the message out, ”he said.
