Young people and women are the key to saving democracy. That’s the takeaway from the 2022 midterm elections and what we can expect looking toward the 2024 presidential race. These groups are demanding change on critical issues including reproductive choice, student debt, the climate crisis and more. While this is a point commonly raised by pundits, the importance of one group in particular often goes unmentioned: Generation Z women.
The midterms saw the second-highest level of youth turnout in three decades, with at least 27% of 18- to 29-year-olds turning out to vote nationwide. Historically, the rate has hovered around 20%. The turnout rate was even higher in swing states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. According to data from Tufts University, it was Gen Z women — particularly women of color along with a distinct majority of all LGBTQ+ youth — who were the deciding factor in close congressional races. In Pennsylvania and Arizona, the Gen Z vote exceeded 70%.
As a politically-engaged Gen Z organizer, I’m confident these numbers aren’t an anomaly but an indicator of my generation’s electoral power moving forward. The next presidential election is just around the corner and there will be even more Gen Z women old enough to vote.
