No Democratic presidential candidate has won North Carolina since Barack Obama in 2008. So when Trump led by 10 points as recently as April, history seemed destined to repeat itself. However, as in many states, Kamala Harris has reinvigorated the party's odds in the state as she now holds a two point lead.
Her path to victory may hinge on one specific demographic: young Latinos. As Axios reports, nearly one-third of the 36.2 million Latinos who are eligible to vote are between the ages of 18 to 29. Specifically in North Carolina, the largest ever cohort of young North Carolina-born Latinos will be eligible to vote in a presidential election this year.
The issue, however, is how to mobilize the demographic to actually vote. In a poll of nearly 3,000 Hispanic voters released by UnidosUS on Wednesday, 48% of respondents 18- to 29-years old said they had not been contacted by any party about voting in this election.
But a new report by The Guardian sheds light on a creative new initiative which uses the language of telenovela to appeal to young Latinos and, hopefully, motivate them to express their opinion at the voting booths.
The project, called "Alexia the Voter", was launched by Poder NC Action, a North Carolina-based nonprofit focused on Latino voter engagement. The eight-part series, which debuted on YouTube, is designed to close the voter registration and turnout gap among Latinos, particularly in North Carolina, a key battleground state. The storyline follows Alexia, a young Latina who evolves from struggling to express her opinions to actively encouraging others to vote.
Poder NC Action, founded in 2020, identified this emerging group of voters early on and has been working to engage them through culturally relevant outreach. As the group's website states, their mission is "to increase electoral participation of Latinx folks by building community around shared values, making folks feel seen and growing to their sense of self-efficacy in order to disrupt historic and/or inherited mistrust of government."
Telenovelas are just one aspect of the organization's broader strategy, which includes mailers, phone banking, canvassing, and monthly social events where voters can meet local politicians.
Alexia the Voter extended its reach beyond North Carolina, with organizations in other states like California, Wisconsin, Arizona and Florida, sharing them on social media and using them in voter engagement efforts. The series is also being featured in Hulu and YouTube TV ads and non-profit Voto Latino will use it in a digital public service announcement ahead of the election.
Poder NC Action's efforts are not just a feel good story about creativity. They have shown tangible results. In the 2020 election, the organization helped increase Latino voter turnout in North Carolina, and in the 2022 midterm election, a quarter of its targeted voters participated, as Irene Godinez, the executive director of Poder NC Action told The Guardian:
"In 2020, Poder NC Action hand delivered 4,000 voter information cards throughout the state, made over 1m calls, delivered over 1m mailers, and worked with 130 young Latino volunteers. Godinez said that their efforts helped North Carolina Latino voters become 40% of the overall Latino voter turnout in 2020"
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