The speeches and hip-hop performance Tuesday at Vice President Kamala Harris’ Atlanta rally made clear Democrats are courting young voters.
In what could be a close election, they could make a difference.
Wednesday’s guests on “Politically Georgia” looked at how to win them over.
Katey Gates, deputy communications director of the left-leaning group Voters of Tomorrow, and former state Rep. Meagan Hanson, a Republican from Brookhaven, both said issues matter most.
“When people say, ‘Young voters don’t vote,’ they’re just writing them off,” Gates said. “And maybe young voters won’t vote if you never devote any of your energy or attention to priorities that they care about.”Gates said young voters are concerned about jobs, the economy, abortion access and health care.
Hanson, a contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said for many young voters this election is about the economy and they’ll notice under the Trump administration “things just cost less.”
“Young voters are prioritizing the same thing as general voters, which I think is, quite frankly, a better thing for Republicans,” Hanson said.
Gates said it’s a messaging issue that some of the Biden-Harris administration’s accomplishments are lost on young voters.
To address that, Gates said Voters of Tomorrow is meeting young audiences where they’re at, whether that’s through infographics, peer-to-peer interactions on college campuses or online memes.
“We see this energy and enthusiasm on the ground and online,” Gates said. “It’s really exciting, but we’re not taking that for granted. We’re doing everything we can to reach voters.”
Thursday on “Politically Georgia”: AJC contributor and former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux joins the show to talk about Harris reaching beyond her Democratic base.
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