On July 20, President Biden stepped down from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.
With less than four months until the election, Harris had to work quickly to stir up attention and support. Her team launched “Kamala HQ” on TikTok and Instagram, an account that uses social media and Gen Z trends to educate people about issues of the election, which almost immediately went viral.
This account has reassured many younger voters who were unsure of Biden’s abilities to be president again because of his advanced age of 81. In contrast, Harris is only 59, nearly 20 years younger than her opponent, Donald Trump. Democrats hope that her age, as well as the potential for her to be the first woman president, will draw the support of new and youthful voters. Throughout Harris’ term as vice president, she remained focused on this demographic. In 2023, she started touring college campuses, aiming to inspire the over 8 million newly eligible voters to become more involved in politics and aware of the power of their vote.
On Aug. 19, The Democratic National Convention kicked off, with over 200 social media influencers in attendance, resulting in increased content and awareness of the event.
All of this comes in a time of decreased youth participation in politics. In 2023, a Harvard University study found that only 49 percent of younger voters planned on voting in the upcoming election. This is an 8 percent decrease from 2020, an election with the highest turnout of people 18-29 in over 20 years.
While Harris attempts to spread her message, some people feel like she is trying to relate to the voters instead of informing them. “I did feel empowered by her recent posts, but I also feel like she is not really speaking on the issues voters care about,” Zan Fooshee ’27 says.
With under two months until the election, both candidates are under more pressure than ever to secure the youth vote, and encourage those not voting to do so.
