Young voters engaged as election cycle heats up

Josh Chapin Image
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Young voters engaged as election cycle heats up
Students at UNC weigh in on the political climate in the 2024 election.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Preston Hill can't wait to get back to Chapel Hill for his sophomore year next month.

"I haven't been through an election on campus so we'll see how it goes," said Hill, who zoomed from his home in Asheville after watching President Biden deliver an address to the nation. "It sounded more like an inauguration-style speech where he was outlining his accomplishments. He closed it with talking about how democracy was on the line."

Hill is a vice president with the UNC College Republicans.

"The vibe among young people that I've seen so far is that they are more attracted, especially left-leaning, more attracted to Kamala Harris versus Joe Biden," Hill said.

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He said the happenings of the last two weeks including the assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump and President Biden deciding to bow out of the race have made what he calls his 'apolitical' friends pay much more attention.

It's attention he thinks will continue into the fall.

"I think a lot more people will be more engaged with politics than they were probably for the reason of both candidates being able to go back and forth with each other better," he said.

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