Approximately 42 million people eligible to vote in this election fall into Generation Z (Generation Z roughly includes those born between 1997 and 2012). The youngest voting bloc is also the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in United States history, and they identify as LGBTQ at much higher rates than older Americans.

It also seems that Generation Z is more interested in politics than previous generations. according to State Data CenterAbout 65% of Iowans ages 18 to 24 are enrolled. In 2020, 61% voted. Looking at the year 2000, only 55% of young people aged 18-24 were registered and only 43% of them had voted.

In this election, a majority of young Americans say they will “definitely” vote in November, according to Fall 2024 Harvard Youth Survey. according to Pew Research Center, Nearly two-thirds of voters ages 18 to 24 support the Democratic Party, compared with 34% who align with the GOP.

There is also a serious gender gap among young voters.

“I think it has moved beyond gender into Grand Canyon gender. Especially for young voters,” said Karen Kedrowski, a political science professor and director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center at Iowa State University. “What we’re seeing is a real shift across age groups, with younger voters in particular favoring the Democratic Party for women.”

recently Times-Siena survey of six swing statesMen aged 18-29 preferred former President Donald Trump by 13 points, while women of the same age preferred Vice President Kamala Harris by 38 points. That’s a 51-point difference; the widest gap since at least 1980.

River to River He set out to talk to young voters about their policy concerns and their hopes for the upcoming election. Ben Kieffer co-hosted the conversations Drake University with editor-in-chief Mack Swenson The Times DelphiAnd Iowa State University With Editor-in-Chief Cleo Westin Iowa State Journal.

Here’s what they had to say.

About the issues that Generation Z cares about

“My top issues are, are and always will be access to abortion at the state level and also at the federal level. This is critically important when you consider that Gen Zers have less constitutional abortion rights and access than our parents and grandparents, and this is an issue that I am extremely passionate about and really look forward to voting on this election cycle. ” said Caroline Siebels-Lindquist, president of the Students for Reproductive Justice at Drake University and the magazine’s reviews editor The Times Delphi.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

“Immigration is a major issue, but the economy is also a major issue, but immigration helps make economic issues more difficult because there are more people here with fewer jobs. This makes it harder for Americans to find opportunities to cope with the higher cost of living and higher housing costs. “And we have so many problems piled on top of each other that it makes all the other problems worse,” said Andrew Storey, treasurer of Turning Point USA in Iowa.

“One of the biggest problems of Generation Z is the environment and climate change. We are the people who need to fix what was broken before us. When we look at the two House of Representatives candidates in our district, neither of them have environmental policies on their websites. So I and many of my colleagues were shouting from the rooftops: ‘Please, please, we have to do something about climate change. ‘We need to do something about water quality.’ And still our two candidates for the House of Representatives do not have a policy on this issue. So I don’t think they really listened to us,” said Anna Snyder, a junior majoring in environmental sustainability and business management and president of the Drake Environmental Action Alliance.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

“I understand now that car crashes or other incidents are turning to firearms instead of being the leading cause of death for people in our age group, so I understand how difficult it might be for other generations to know how deeply it affects us, but we have been forced to face it for most of our lives.” .I mean, I’ve been aware of this issue since I was seven years old, after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. And every year as I grew up and went to school, I had to think: is it going to happen in elementary school? Is it going to happen in middle school? And Perry? “I went to school at Valley High School in West Des Moines, and we used to take a trip to Perry High School every year for our band competition, so when I heard that news, I was really heartbroken, because I have friends that go there,” said Drake, a sophomore on the Democrats’ board of directors. student and outreach leader for Students Demand Action, Lila Khan.

“Making sure we’re advocating for LGBTQ-plus rights and all kinds of minorities and things like that. Absolutely, that’s probably the most important aspect of the upcoming election for me,” said Jemma Bullock, a sophomore landscape architecture student at Iowa State University and executive director of the Iowa Queer Student Alliance.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

“My father’s town of Sahumi, Georgia, was occupied by the Red Army, even though it was already occupied by the Soviet Union. It was occupied, and he literally saw his friends killed and burned right before his eyes. He and others. So that kind of story that was told to me brought me to arms issues.” especially because he said it would be different if we had a way to defend ourselves,” history senior Giorgi Gagua said. and studying at ISU.

“The thing that frustrates me the most about this issue is that both politicians and presidential candidates, anyone running for Congress, can claim: ‘Oh, what am I going to do when I get in? It’s my politics to figure out the economy. But the economy is such a complex, multifaceted thing “Which… I would also seek more transparency and talk about how everyone can work together to improve the economy as we continue to talk about this collaboration?” said Maddi Cave, a senior in public relations and strategic political communication at Drake University and a member of Bulldog Catholic’s board of directors.

Generation Z is about civic engagement and enthusiasm

“We disagree on a lot of things, but we both care about the future of Iowa. We both care about the future of our country, and we have different paths that we think we should eventually get to the goal or the light at the end of the tunnel, and we can treat each of them with respect,” said Michael Mitchell, chairman of the Drake Democrats, across the aisle. He was talking about his friend Dylan Englebrecht.

“I think Michael and I always come back to what being in college is all about? And it’s about hearing other people’s ideas, hearing where they’re coming from, and hearing how they approach a topic that’s perhaps different from mine. So if we look at it that way, you know, Michael and the leadership boards of the College Republicans and the Drake Democrats have always managed to have a good relationship throughout my time at Drake, not just having good policy discussions, because I know we disagree on a lot of things, but, you know, having good company,” said Dylan Engelbrecht, president of the Drake College Republicans.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

“I think being a Republican on campus is a model where you can have a different perspective and still have a genuine conversation with someone you may not agree with. And I think that’s a good thing. And I think it’s very important to show that to college students, especially when they’re looking to join clubs, especially when they’re looking to find themselves. And I think one of the best things College Republicans can do is be there and welcome people with open arms. “There are things you may disagree with and disagree with, but everyone can express their opinion,” said Trey Wellman, vice president of the Federation of College Republicans.

“I would say there was definitely a wave of enthusiasm when Harris took over. There’s still always the possibility of anti-Trumpers, as mentioned before, you either hate him or you like him, and I think that’s on a base level. “So at this point Democrats are about kind of presenting a clear alternative to what Trump is offering,” said Cole Lindaman, president of the ISU College Democrats and a civil engineering senior.

Generation Z about the political system

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

“I was very determined, I wasn’t going to vote. I was thinking to myself, our system is broken and I feel like voting would be reinforcing something that I already know hasn’t worked for the last 50 years, which is what got us here. I don’t want to do that… Until I watch the debate… After watching, I felt like, first of all, a big issue for me is affordable housing, and I believe that Kamala Harris addressed that issue directly, and whenever it was Trump’s turn to speak, he was more He stated that ‘this will not work’. ‘What they’re doing is wrong,’ or raising offspring is wrong,’ said Avrom Bailey, a senior in mechanical engineering and president of the ISU Robotics Club.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

“One of the reasons I moved towards ranked-choice voting was that it eliminates or greatly reduces the spoiler effect. Currently, candidates are being told ‘Don’t run away’. “You can split the votes.” So when a group of people with the same ideology or similar beliefs become candidates, they split the vote among themselves so that the bad person or non-dominant ideology wins. And you are told ‘don’t compete, don’t vote for your choice, vote for the big party’. And so there is a lack of choice. You’re told what to do, and if you don’t vote for the major party, you’re letting the bad side win,” said Katie Babb, a political science and Spanish major and intern at Better Ballot Iowa.

This Young Voter Voices series on River to River is sponsored by the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, located on the Drake University Campus.