Voters optimistic about Gen Z political action
NEW HAVEN — Emma Scymanski normally only votes in presidential elections but, on Tuesday, she walked over to a polling place at East Rock Community Management to cast her ballot, with the issue of women’s rights in mind.
“It’s a responsible thing to do,” Scymanski said.
She isn’t alone. Area college students and young local voters said they’re excited to see youth involvement in the democratic process and social movements, while some said the turnout could have been better.
Early estimates from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University show 27 percent of voters aged 18-29 nationwide voted in this election cycle, the second-highest turnout for a midterm election in 30 years, just behind 2018.
Among them was Caroline Tanbee Smith, who volunteered Tuesday for the Democratic Party. She said has been inspired by young people’s involvement — from youth-led New Haven Climate Movement to other active groups that are working to make the city more equitable.
“I think young people are doing it,” Smith said.
Although the balance of power in both Congress chambers remains unclear, many political scientists and analysts have said the Democratic Party did better than expected, preventing a socalled red wave.
In Connecticut, Democrats swept all statewide offices, while retaining control of the General Assembly. The state saw a 58.43 percent turnout, 6 points fewer than 2018.
While New Haven had only a 39.7 percent turnout, several towns in the area, including Hamden, West Haven and East Haven, saw turnout in the mid-50s; and some towns, like North Haven, Woodbridge and Orange2, reported more than 60 percent.
A Wallingford voter who heads Southern Connecticut State University Democrats, Derrick Arnold, said politics has become more of a permanent issue for average young people, instead of just something they don’t talk about, thanks to former President Donald Trump.
“He really got people to participate in the political system just because he was so egregious that people just started voting to kind of stop these policies,” Arnold said.
With estimated turnout and the results Arnold described as
“a pleasant surprise,” he said he has become more hopeful for the future, especially when it comes to environmental issues.
“I feel like young people are the most environmentally conscious generation that we’ve had so far, and if we’re going to comment on big issues like global warming, it’s going to have to come from young people voting,” he said.
Paul Cappuzzo, a Quinnipiac University student and a New Jersey voter, said the current result outlook is the best possible situation for the Democrats, emphasizing how Gen Z voters made that possible.
Generation Z generally is defined as those born after 1997.
“I think Generation Z is a very special generation,” said Cappuzzo, president of QU Democrats and an intern at the lieutenant governor’s office. “We have access to more information than any previous generations.”
In times when people take issues they care about to social media, Cappuzzo said he thought people just did it to be trendy, but now he’s not so sure.
“I guarantee you it’s those same people who post on their stories, those infographics, are the same people who turned out to vote,” he said. “So, I am pleasantly surprised about voter turnout. But with that said, it’s also not where it should be.”
“Not where it should be,” he said, because 27 percent isn’t even half or one-third of the age group. But he remains optimistic that the number will increase in coming years.
Jonathan Wharton, a political science associate professor at SCSU, also said he was surprised by the early estimates, as he thought the turnout for young voters would at least exceed 30 percent, potentially reaching 35 percent.
On the other hand, another Quinnipiac student, Miles Ellsworth, didn’t vote because he said he’s tired of both parties and there wasn’t any candidate that excited him.
Ellsworth, who is a part of QU Republicans, said he wasn’t surprised by the turnout of young people given the recent Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Ellsworthsaid his main priorities included inflation, followed by abortion and climate change.
“At the end of the day, democracy only works if people participate in it, which I guess is maybe a little hypocritical for me to say, since I didn’t actually vote,” he said. “To see that a lot of people vote, I think that’s a good sign in terms of democracy.”
Social issues drove young New Haven voters
Voters under 30 years old whom the New Haven Register spoke to on Election Day overwhelmingly expressed that social issues were more on their mind than economic issues.
Top priorities for them included access to voting, codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law, and continued efforts toward addressing racial justice and climate change, both locally and federally.
Eric Lee of New Haven, who showed up at the Troup School polling place just after 7 a.m., said he came out because it would be worth adding him to the turnout number, even though he didn’t think his vote would determine the outcome.
“I really think that the twoparty system has been a problem and I really think we need ranked choice voting,” he said.
As races in New Haven, including the 3rd Congressional District race, were seen as uncompetitive, Lee said he voted for Green Party’s Justin Paglino “just to show support,” despite knowing he wouldn’t win.
Lee said he believed the turnouts for young people usually are low because they are “disillusioned” as “this messed-up system is all they’ve known.”
“They’ve seen how a lot of progressive policies got repealed in the past two years, a lot of things they took for granted and now they’re seeing a downward trend,” Lee said. “They probably feel hopeless and think, ‘what my one vote’s going to do.’”
For Smith, the most important issues are inclusive economic development that invests in local entrepreneurs, talents and artists, and climate change.
“We’re at a really critical moment in our history where not only do we need to make sure that we’re decarbonizing but also how climate justice policies impact across all the neighborhoods and individuals,” Smith said.
What drove Roy Kohavi of New Haven to the polls Tuesday were abortion, climate change, racial justice and the economy. Contributing to the turnout for Kohavi means disallowing older people to decide his future, he said.
“It’s really important for young people to vote, because we’re the future generation,” Kohavi said. “It’s going to be about us very soon.”
As a New Haven transplant from Seattle, Kohavi said he used to wait in line to vote when he was back in Washington, but the process was quick when he was at the city’s Hall of Records around 8 a.m., so he wasn’t sure if a lot of people had come out — “maybe it’s early, maybe it’s just more efficient here,” he said.
“I have good faith in this process,” Kohavi said.
Future of young voter turnouts
SCSU’s Wharton said it’s difficult for political parties to hold steady on young people to be consistent, so he said this year’s turnout wouldn’t necessarily translate to future elections.
With the presidential election in 2024, however, he said the number could be a little bit higher, as usual. But for Connecticut municipal elections next year, he said he doubted it.
“These local races don’t garner that much attention among young people, even just in general,” Wharton said. “You’re lucky to see 25 percent turnout in municipal races, so this will be interesting if there is going to be an increase in municipal races, I don’t see that for next year now.”
Wharton said the bigger problem with younger people, especially for those under 30, is that they tend to be “transient” due to their education situations and living circumstances.
“And we’re dealing with a small cohort of people,” he said. “I think we’re not going to see the lasting power or the effects of the impact of Generation Z until maybe another four years from now.”