Trey Kay, Samantha Gattsek Published

Us & Them: Next Generation Voters

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For this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay heads to Marshall University to hear from Generation Z voters. In the final weeks of the 2024 Presidential election, young voters share their thoughts on the challenges of political divisions, campaign tactics, and frustrations of whether or not their perspectives are being heard.

The 2024 Presidential election season continues to be a rollercoaster of unpredictable actions, reactions and events and it seems that each week brings big political headlines. 

Political campaigns have always had some rough edges, but now, candidates routinely call each other names and some frequently perpetuate outright lies in their speeches and at their rallies. That’s a challenge for many voters, including some of the youngest. 

In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay travels to Marshall University to talk with a new generation of voters. Many Generation Z voters, from 18 to 27 years old, want to get involved. At a recent Us & Them event, they talked about their role in our democratic process, and about the frustrations that come from the compromises our system can require.  

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, and the CRC Foundation. Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

A panel of three sits at a table with a white tablecloth. In front of them is arrayed a crowd, seated in seats in a room whose back wall is all glass.
Us & Them host Trey Kay leads a discussion with students at Marshall University.
Credit: Julie Blackwood
A woman with curly hair wears a black dress with large lapels. She gestures with her  right hand while speaking into a microphone placed in a table stand in front of her. The mic is connected with a blue cable.
Dr. Marybeth Beller is an Associate Professor in Political Science at Marshall University. She also advises the Cabell County Young Democrats.
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“How can you get candidates to respond? Running a campaign now is based on numbers – candidates look at precinct level voter turnout for the previous two elections and if they see high voter turnout then they’re going to look at which party predominated and play to that. One of the ways to change this is to get your cohort out to vote. All counties have records of who turned out to voteand while we cannot know how they voted, we can know if they voted. Candidates will pay attention to the voters that they think are more likely to turn out. Every campaign has limited resources and time and money. So if you’re voting regularly, people are going to pay attention to you. It’s not the way it should be, but it’s the way it is.”

— Dr. Marybeth Beller

A man with slicked back hair leans slightly over the table he is sitting at with a microphone set in front of him. The man wears a dark blue suit jacket over a light blue dress shirt and green tie. He sports a lapel name pin. More microphones can be seen in the foreground.
Dr. Shawn Schulenberg is an Associate Professor in Political Science at Marshall University and serves as Chair of the Faculty Senate.
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“The generation that has the least amount of trust in institutions, is the Gen Z era. They are much more skeptical about future oriented issues, especially in the era of sustainability. From most of my conversations and also seeing in the data, there is a thought that none of the institutions are working as they should. We’re not getting the results that we should. And therefore, there is some type of breakdown. They’re supposed to be solving big problems, but it doesn’t seem like we’re getting any closer to that.”

— Dr. Shawn Schulenberg

Several individuals stand in line to speak at a microphone. First in line, speaking at the microphone is a young woman wearing her hair pinned back with a large black clip and a white blouse over a brown skirt. Behind her stands a woman wearing a black shirt and behind her stands a man in a white t-shirt, and finally a man with a black shirt with a green Marshall logo
Marshall University students queueing up to ask questions or share a comment about the 2024 Election.
Credit: Julie Blackwood
Three people sit at a table with a white tablecloth and microphones set up in front of them. In the background young people stand at microphones waiting to speak.
Us & Them host Trey Kay with Marshall University professors Marybeth Beller and Shawn Schulenberg speaking with students about the upcoming election.
Credit: Julie Blackwood
A young person speaks at a microphone while wearing their hair down over a pink shirt with a large black design in the center and a gold pendant
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“I do feel a lot of personal frustration when I see a politician just straight lie to my face. I haven’t attended a speech or rally, but if I did, I wouldn’t be too happy about it. And while I can try to do my best to keep any biases out of my decisions, it’s impossible to be completely unbiased. I’m not a big Trump fan and that’s because of how many falsehoods he’s put out there and stood by –  kind of creating this web of lies so much that your voters aren’t sure what’s true.”

— Gavin Reynolds, Marshall University student

A young woman with her hair up in a bun wears glasses and a white t-shirt while standing at a microphone connected with a green cord.
Reagan Clagg, a Political Science major and President of the College Democrats, asked the panel how they feel the media — traditional or social — has motivated young voters.
Credit: Julie Blackwood
A man wears a short sleeve collared shirt with a wide, blue and white plaid pattern over a black shirt. He gestures with his left hand while speaking into a microphone.
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“It was very clear for a very long time that President Biden was not a popular candidate for this general election. I think it was a February poll that had even 71 percent of Democrats didn’t want him as their candidate. And as that kept being ignored and ignored, I felt very disrespected and ignored by the party. So, while I’m not a huge Harris booster — although I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen so far — just the fact that they made any change at all in the candidate, I think has motivated a lot of people. They think that the party has listened to them, has listened to the American people in some regard.”

— Logan Stickler, Marshall University student

A woman with the tips of her hair dyed pink speaks at a microphone while gesturing with her hand. She wears a lavender t-shirt and a pendant around her neck. The heads of others can be seen in the foreground.
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“What makes you think that politicians don’t come and speak to us like you’re speaking to us right now? [Politicians] make claims about  climate activism and violence. Show me what you’re gonna do to fix it. Like, what makes you think politicians won’t come and speak to us like you all are right now?” 

— Marshall University student

A woman wearing glasses and a black shirt over jeans reads from a notebook while speaking at a microphone
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“When you’re looking for what’s motivating young voters, I would look towards activism and issues they’re passionate about, and this is just one example. But one significant form of activism we’ve seen in the past year driven by youth is protests surrounding the U. S. government and institutions support of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, but neither major political party seems to be listening. What should young voters be doing? Do you think this might be pushing voters toward third parties? We must demand candidates address the issues we care about, but what does that look like?

— Olivia Andrew-Vaughan, Marshall University student

A young man gestures with his left hand as he speaks at a microphone. He wears an off-white shirt with a design in the center of the chest. In his other hand he holds a notebook.
This Marshall student asked the panel what drives shifts in which party platforms win elections. He referenced Obama’s 2012 win, Trump’s victory in 2016, and Biden’s success in 2020, asking whether changes in voter perspectives, platforms, or key issues influenced the outcomes, and how the panel sees this evolving in the future.
Credit: Julie Blackwood
A young man wearing glasses and a black shirt with a green Marshall logo on the chest speaks at a microphone
Credit: Julie Blackwood

Quinlin Sollars: You keep on talking about the age demographic, I believe 18 to 24 I believe. I’m 22 on the older end of that,and I believe this  will be my sixth election I’ll be voting in.  But my question is … how do you think the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United has undermined trust in our institutions and specifically for my generation which came of age politically entirely in a post Citizens United era?

Trey Kay: Can you explain to me what a person 22-years-old knows about Citizens United? Why does it matter to you?

Quinlin Sollars: It matters to me because a lot of the very wealthy people and very large industrial companies might donate to both political sides because they want a certain policy. And that way they win either way when it comes down because they’re like, “Well, if we stay in West Virginia, Democrats most likely not going to win this state.” So if you’re a Google, you might be supportin a Democrat in California. But you’re also going to support a Republican in West Virginia, because that’s who’s going to end up in power, and that’s who’s going to regulate you in that state. So, they’re sort of playing both sides. And it makes it hard to trust a candidate when they’re taking money from a company that really doesn’t care about your issue or anything like that. They’re supporting both sides, and they’re sort of playing the long games to the point where your voice doesn’t matter in the end.

A woman wearing glasses and a white button-down shirt speaks at a microphone
Credit: Julie Blackwood

“I’ve noticed that in both myself and my peers, like people in the general age range, they have issues, but they don’t really know how to get involved. And if they do get involved, it’s very simple. It’s like voting, and that’s pretty much all where it ends. And I’m thinking, like, is there any way for people to feel more empowered in, you know, issues, government, media, uh, anything like that?”

— Marshall University student