For months, young voters say they have lacked optimism in President Joe Biden’s reelection.
So have dozens of Democrats in Congress, celebrities, staffers and politicians.
Those calls turned into action on Sunday. In a statement posted on the social platform X, Biden announced he would “stand down” and end his campaign for a second presidency — shortly before announcing his full endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
In just days, that decision has “energized” voters in Generation Z, Trojan Democrats President Sara Xiao Stienecker, a senior studying political science, said.
“Vice President Harris has become a candidate that a lot of young people feel very excited to rally behind,” Xiao Stienecker said.
Much of the newfound energy comes from the support towards Biden that many young voters lost because of his policy choices or decisions with the war in Gaza, she said.
“For a while, it’s been kind of a worry with Biden as a nominee,” Ruby Bierman, an incoming freshman majoring in communications, said.
Bierman said the first thing she felt after learning Biden had dropped out was “panic.”
“I honestly didn’t really believe it at first. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that’s what he should do, drop out for the party to make it better in the election,” Bierman said.
But hearing Biden and other Democratic leaders’ support for Kamala Harris was comforting, especially since she’s from Kansas, a solid red state.
“Seeing him able to step down, seeing Kamala able to step up, it is very encouraging to the younger people in my community,” Bierman said. “I support [Harris] wholeheartedly.”
The Trojan Democrats Executive Board also announced their endorsement of Harris on Monday.
Both Bierman and Xiao Stienecker see Harris being the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as encouragement to get more young voters out to the polls — especially those who may have been hesitant about Biden.
Already, the Harris campaign has taken on a branding geared towards young voters, embracing summer social media trends like Charli XCX’s album “brat.” Xiao Stienecker said that, plus Harris’s ability to capitalize off Biden administration accomplishments for college-age students, gives Harris an advantage heading into the next months of campaigning.
“It seems like they’re interested in keeping the election ‘trendy,’” Xiao Stienecker said.
That makes all the difference to first-time voters like Bierman.
“To finally have the chance to vote, and having the chance to choose who’s leading the country that you’re living in is very exciting,” Bierman said. “We could make up the difference between who loses and who wins.”
Next, both Bierman and Xiao Stienecker said, Gen Z must use their vote to make a difference.
“Activism doesn’t just stop at protesting. It also involves your vote and voting for people who you think are going to support your policies,” Xiao Stienecker said.”Vice President Harris will pay a lot of attention to the youth vote by putting in place policies that affect student voters … Now they see how influential we, as young voters, can be as a voting bloc.”
As an incoming freshman, Bierman’s introduction to a new environment where most students can vote is both exciting and daunting. Those emotions are deepened in an election year with political unrest.
“I always kind of knew that going into my college years, it was going to be the start of another election, [and the] start of a new presidency … There’s always kind of a worry that sits in the back of your head that something could happen,” Bierman said.
But with Harris as the presumptive on her first-ever ballot this November, Bierman is optimistic.
“I’m more hopeful than I was before to see maybe a Democrat win in the November election,” Bierman said. “And I’m very hopeful to see the first female president, the first Black woman as president.”