Here you can find out what is driving Generation Z to vote in November

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For many Gen Zers in Ohio, next November will be their first time voting in a presidential election. Kent State University students say they are ready to make their voices heard — especially on social issues.

The Pew Research Center defines Generation Z as people born between 1997 and 2012. Zoomers grew up in the age of the Internet, but also experienced the 2008 recession, rapid climate change and a rise in school violence.

These events shaped the way Kent State University senior Zach Graves views politics.

“We grew up with school shootings occurring daily, weekly and monthly across our generation across the country,” Graves told me. “I’m looking for someone who is passionate about making change on this issue.”

According to my data analysis, he is one of the more than 1,125,000 Gen Z voters in Ohio, or about 15% of all voters in the state.

KSU, like most college campuses, is a more liberal bubble in Republican-leaning Portage County. Portage is known as a central county that has elected both Republicans and Democrats over the decades.

But every one of the dozens of students we spoke to told us that it was social reasons that led them to vote.

“Abortion — I just think it should be a woman’s choice,” said freshman Olivia Drago.

Most students we spoke to cited reproductive rights and gender equality as core issues they care about.

“As an LGBTQ member, I’m definitely looking for someone to support me and a lot of my friends,” junior Zoe Griffith said.

According to Pew Research, Generation Z is the most progressive generation when it comes to social issues. But that doesn’t mean they only vote for Democrats.

The vast majority of Gen Z voters in Ohio are unaffiliated or unaffiliated with a party on their voter registration. This could be because the majority of registered Ohioans do not vote in primaries where people typically align with a party. Or voters could be like newcomer Viera Fink, who just registered to vote and said Generation Z may be more interested in certain issues than the party label.

“I’m more of an independent person, I look into every single thing,” said Fink.

And like the older generations, like the Boomers, the Zoomers also care about the economy. But Griffith said that was because of the unique difficulties her generation faced.

“Someone who helps college students because I know that for some people, financial struggles are the deciding factor in attending college,” Griffith added.

Other issues raised by voters included health care costs, environmental protection, ensuring America remains a democracy and helping people experiencing poverty.

“Someone who helps support low-income communities,” said sophomore Isaac Britton. “I just want to make sure everyone in America has an equal fighting chance.”

After voters told us the specific issues they cared about, we asked what else they could think of. Not a single person mentioned immigration or fears surrounding immigration. This is where Generation Z appears to differ from their older counterparts, as Pew Research has found that more than 60% of all voters say immigration policy is important to their vote.

According to Pew Research, violent crime is another major concern for older Americans. When we asked several students about violent crime, they explained that crime can be solved by addressing other societal problems and promoting gun safety regulations.

Getting the vote

How can campaigns target this audience?

For Vice President Kamala Harris, it’s social media and sharing their aligned ideologies.

KamalaHQ, the vice president’s campaign TikTok account, is clearly designed to attract younger Americans. It has 4.8 million followers, 189.8 million total likes and hundreds of millions of views. Some Gen Zers told us the campaign, which leveraged memes, helped them learn more about Harris’ beliefs.

She recently participated in the female-focused podcast “Call Her Daddy,” which garnered around 625 million views on YouTube. It’s unclear how many listeners it has on other streaming platforms.

But the meme could work.

A poll from Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics found that 64% of young voters say they support Harris, while 32% are voting for former President Donald Trump.

According to a Gallup poll, young women are more likely to identify as gender progressive. Harvard found the same correlation – 70% of female voters would probably choose Harris and 23% would choose Trump.

Generation Z male voters still followed the liberal trend, but not as strongly. Likely male voters were 53% Harris and 36% Trump.

But Trump is still fighting for the youth vote.

He runs celebrity podcasts and video game channels on the Internet that are primarily aimed at young men.

The former president recently joined comedian Theo Von on his podcast and YouTube channel, with the video garnering 13 million views. It’s unclear how many listeners it has on other streaming platforms.

Trump’s official non-meme TikTok account has 11.8 million followers, 65.7 million likes and hundreds of millions of views. However, it is not aimed at Generation Z.

Can Generation Z influence the election?

Generation Z is a growing voting bloc, but there are many unknowns as this is the first presidential election for a large portion of the generation. It depends on voter turnout.

Half a million people have already voted in Ohio since early voting opened on October 8th. New data from the state shows that the majority of ballots come from voters over 65, with the lowest share coming from voters ages 18 to 24.

However, all the students we spoke to agreed on one thing. Young people have the power to change the country if they do Strictly speaking appear to vote.

“I think Generation Z is a really engaged group of people,” Graves said. “We’re just trying to make our voices heard as much as possible.”

Follow WEWS Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau continues Twitter And Facebook.