猫咪社区

Until a few months ago, Ella Chenai Tunduwani saw themselves as the quiet, back-of-the-classroom type, one to offer thoughts privately on the way out the door.

Tunduwani, a 14-year-old from Seattle, was already stepping out of their comfort zone by volunteering with Kirsten Harris-Talley鈥檚 campaign. Harris-Talley was running for an open seat in Washington鈥檚 legislature, and Tuduwani鈥檚 leftist politics aligned well with the candidate鈥檚. Tunduwani couldn鈥檛 have guessed, but would shortly learn, that they excelled at asking strangers for money.

For young volunteers like Tunduwani, campaigning usually means stints phone banking, text messaging, and knocking on doors鈥攖he grunt work, basically, that powers politicians of all political shades. Tunduwani did that, and much more.

Within weeks of volunteering, the high school freshman and dozens of other young campaign workers were included in what Tunduwani refers to as the 鈥渁dult meeting鈥� with the 鈥渃ampaign-campaign,鈥� not just the youth team. They鈥檇 throw out ideas, and those ideas would turn into initiatives.

鈥淵outh were not only welcomed, but heard,鈥� said Tunduwani, who ultimately received a paid fellowship with the campaign鈥檚 fundraising arm.

By any measure, youth political engagement shot up during the Trump presidency. Estimates from Tufts University鈥檚 Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement suggest , about an 8-point increase from 2016.

鈥淲e saw incredible youth participation in the year of 2020,鈥� said Abby Kiesa, deputy director of the Tufts center, which researches ways to include youth in politics. 鈥淭hat includes voting, but it also includes rates of marching and protesting, as well as 鈥� trying to talk to friends, talk to family members about the election.鈥�

The number of young people volunteering with political campaigns more than tripled between the two presidential elections, the center鈥檚 surveys indicate. About for a political campaign in 2020.

In Arizona, Dillon Belmont spent election season putting together voter testimonials for social media and contacting voters. Belmont, now 20, split his time between two state legislative races for seats representing a suburban Phoenix district, serving as social media manager for both. To win in Legislative District 20, Belmont鈥檚 candidates, Democrats Judy Schweibert running for a state House seat and Doug Ervin running for state Senate, would have to overcome a Republican advantage in registered voters.

The stakes were particularly high in Schweibert鈥檚 race. Republicans held 31 of 60 seats in the state鈥檚 House of Representatives, and Schweibert was one of two Democratic challengers with a real shot at tying it up. Success in the race, , could give the Democrats control of a part of the Arizona legislature for the first time since 1992. Belmont said 鈥渁 lot of eyes鈥� were on the campaign, and no room for a new Arizona State University grad to weigh in on policy.

When the election鈥檚 considerable amount of dust settled, Schweibert, a teacher about whom Belmont effuses about as refreshing, relatable, and a 鈥渞eal human person鈥� in politics, won her race while Ervin, who was running for state Senate, lost. Democratic losses elsewhere in the state meant Schweibert won鈥檛 be in the majority.

For a race so consequential, the cupboards were pretty bare. Schweibert and Ervin shared a staff of four-and-a-half workers鈥擝elmont was part-time鈥攁s well as four interns and any volunteers they could gather. Most of the volunteers were retired or near to it. Attracting younger volunteers, Belmont said, proved difficult.

鈥淭here are unique challenges that young people specifically have, that get in the way,鈥� said Belmont, who was recently hired as a legislative staffer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely worth the effort for campaigns and elected officials to attract them and hear what they have to say.鈥�

We鈥檙e really dealing with issues of access, not issues of apathy.

At 18, Andrew Hong already had two campaigns behind him when he signed on to Harris-Talley鈥檚 run this spring. The work in his first, a primary challenge to an incumbent congressman in a heavily Democratic district outside Seattle, was standard: knock on doors, make calls, put up signs. His second, a Seattle City Council race, took him deeper. Hong said he and the other younger volunteers spoke and were heard, but they were still expected to listen more than lead.

Harris-Talley鈥檚 campaign was a sea change for Hong. Running in a state legislative race that ultimately drew 77,508 votes, the campaign had 63 young people, ages 12 to 22, sign on to its youth team, 10 of whom, including Hong and Tunduwani, were paid fellows. They ran the campaign鈥檚 Instagram account and also shaped the platform on climate justice and youth rights. Hong raved about how a high school freshman conceived and ran a small business 鈥減ower hour.鈥�

The young volunteers and fellows helped organize Zoom meetings targeting specific communities in the district, which comprised a swirl of languages, ethnicities and economic situations both in some of Seattle鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods and some of its richest. The region’s Black, East African, and Latinx communities have set anchors there. The city鈥檚 center of LGBTQ life is in the district, as are Seattle鈥檚 historic Asian, Jewish, and now-vanishing Italian neighborhoods. More than half the young campaigners live inside the district.

Harris-Talley was the main draw. A community organizer previously tapped to fill in on the Seattle City Council, Harris-Talley鈥檚 progressive positions attracted youth who鈥檇 entered politics in the fights for climate action and criminal justice reform. Harris-Talley鈥檚 background gave the campaign a different feel, Hong recalled. Many of the adults had careers outside politics in community organizing before joining Harris-Talley鈥檚 campaign, Hong said, and weren鈥檛 鈥減ureblood electoral organizers.鈥�

鈥淲e were organizing for more than just an election,鈥� Hong said. 鈥淓specially the youth team, we did things that may not necessarily have been electorally beneficial, but 鈥� would make community better.鈥�

Hong points to the 鈥渁ccountability council鈥� of district residents to which Harris-Talley has pledged to report. The council, a group of residents and leaders organized by the campaign, is expected to monitor Harris-Talley鈥檚 progress on issues raised during the campaign and push her to action if she comes up short.

鈥淭his was kind of one of the first opportunities for youth to get real experience doing electoral work and not just be phone banking all the time,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚 think they didn鈥檛 expect it to be this big, and neither did I.鈥�

Kiesa, the Tufts researcher, said it has long been clear is that more young people would join campaigns if the doors were opened to them. Each election season, the number of young people who tell survey takers they鈥檇 like to volunteer far exceeds the number who actually do.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really dealing with issues of access, not issues of apathy,鈥� Kiesa said.

American politics are worse for the absence of young people, Kiesa contends. Young people make up large portions of the electorate everywhere in the country and should be represented, she said. Beyond the democratic imperative, young people also know their communities鈥� needs and that knowledge should be put to work meaningfully.

Meaningful work is what Klaire Gumbs found with the New Georgia Project, one of several large voter registration efforts credited with making Georgia a swing state in the 2020 general election and the upcoming Senate runoff on Jan. 5.

Gumbs, 24, spent her days speaking with potential voters about money and money trouble. Many are buried in debt, struggling to make payments to preserve their credit scores. She spoke with one man faced with the choice between paying a usurious short-term loan or buying groceries for his family. He chose to pay the loan.

Gumbs connected the ballot box with those pains. Working from the temporary center of America鈥檚 political universe, she spread the message that a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-issued and other protections meant to make the pandemic鈥檚 economic shock survivable are 鈥渙n the ballot鈥� during the runoff election that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Volunteers called in to help from across the country, most of whom are decades older than her; participants in one recent phone bank session were all senior citizens.

Gumbs said she鈥檚 looking forward to taking a week off after the election. It鈥檚 been a long eight months since she joined the New Georgia Project in April, though President-elect Joe Biden鈥檚 win was a welcome, validating surprise.

鈥淗onestly, it wasn鈥檛 something I expected,鈥� Gumbs said.

Biden鈥檚 victory in the state, she said, showed Georgians want to see the minimum wage rise, gender equity in pay, and Medicaid expansion so more low-income residents can get health insurance. 鈥淭o me,鈥� she continued, 鈥渋t feels like people have finally realized what we want for Georgia. 鈥� It makes everything worth it.鈥�

Harris-Talley鈥檚 win in Seattle wasn鈥檛 a surprise, exactly. She was better known and better funded than her opponent, another progressive Democrat. That didn鈥檛 make the victory any less thrilling for Tunduwani.

鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� Tunduwani said after the election. 鈥淎t that moment when she won, I was just thinking back to all those conversations I鈥檇 had, all those times I鈥檇 gone out of my comfort zone. And I just said, it was worth something.鈥�

The youth team is figuring out how to persist, Tunduwani said. The team want to keep pushing for change in the areas that animated them. And they really enjoy one another.

The lessons others can take from Harris-Talley鈥檚 campaign, Tunduwani offered, are simple: Reach out, and recognize the strength that young people bring.

鈥淎 lot of youth are underestimated, not only because they鈥檙e youth but because a lot of youth come from historically underserved populations 鈥� that aren鈥檛 typically seen as the people who will be able to run a campaign,鈥� they said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 underestimate youth organizers.鈥�