A report from CIRCLE at Tufts University ranked North Carolina's Senate race third nationally among races where voters ages 18 to 29 could play a decisive role.
"This race is interesting because it's for an open seat. Senator (Thom) Tillis is retiring, which creates both opportunities and challenges for youth, which may be exciting for the possibility to both sway an election and getting someone to new into office. But it also requires us to provide young people with more information about candidates so that they know who they are supporting," said Leela Strong, the Newhouse Director for CIRCLE.
Strong explained that younger voters are more likely to be unaffiliated; unaffiliated voters are the largest voting bloc in North Carolina.
"Young people tend to be issues-based voters rather than proponents of a specific candidate or political party," Strong explained.
Strong said younger voters are often motivated by whether candidates engage with the issues they care about rather than by party loyalty.
"They are not transactional voters," Strong said. "If folks show up every two years, ask for their vote, they're not going to be swayed. They really want to be heard and seen and part of our democracy."
According to CIRCLE, 47% of young voters nationwide cast ballots in the 2024 election, a figure slightly below 2020 though markedly higher than in 2016. In North Carolina, however, turnout among voters ages 18-to-29 reached 56%, and was one of five states (that) saw an increase between 2020 and 2024. Their findings were based on forty states that had "enough age data in their voter files to allow for reliable estimates."
Political organizations focused on younger voters are working to maintain that momentum heading into the midterm elections.
"In 2024, Justice Allison Riggs won by 734 votes, and that means that just a small fraction of the 50,000 people who were on this campus, in terms of staff and students could have been the difference in that race," said Nikolai Kutsch, a member of the College Democrats at NC State.
Kutsch said outreach efforts are focused on helping students stay engaged in the political process.
"We hear what people actually think, and they tell us things that concern them, and we're here to listen to them and give them constructive ways to push back and to remember that we as the people still have the power, regardless of what's going on at the national and state level," he said.
Kutsch cited issues such as ICE raids, federal research cuts, and the economy as important to students on campus.
"Anybody (on-campus) already knows a lot of what's going on, often because they're personally affected by it," said Kutsch.
Republican organizers are making similar efforts to encourage participation. River Collins, President of the Wake County Young Republicans, said there are numerous opportunities for young people to become involved.
"There is a place for everybody," Collins said. "Phone calls, poll working, door knocking."
Collins noted public safety and affordability as important topics drawing attention.
"There's no friend that I can name that does not complain about the cost of rent and the cost of general goods," Collins said.
Ensuring their voices are heard requires greater participation at the ballot box.
"Young people have a lot of demands of our elected officials that are all very fair, and we should demand things from our elected officials," Collins said. "But we have to do our part in getting involved in the civic process as well. You know, we can't expect to sit out of elections and have our needs be the No. 1 priority on the list. We definitely need to increase our involvement and be more civically engaged in politics."
Past the Senate election at the top of the ticket, both Kutsch and Collins discussed the importance of down-ballot races.
"That's what I always tell people when I hear them complain about property tax. That's been a really big one recently. (If) you want to do something about it, vote in your local elections because there are people that want to cut them, or at the very least control them. If you don't vote for people like that, you can't really expect anything to be done about it. People overlook local elections (and) they absolutely should not. They are the ones that most closely affect our day-to-day life," Collins said.
"That's something we're really concerned about because, as you know, a lot of people are considered midterm skippers and don't vote when there is not a presidential candidate on the ballot. One thing that we've done to try to remind people of that is make sure they are meeting the people who are running for (down-ballot) offices at the local level and state level," said Kutsch, who cited ongoing debates over data centers as one major issue handled by local elected officials.
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