The Making of a First-Time Voter: 10 Years of Conversations With Gen Z

With the stakes in the upcoming election feeling ever higher, we are a country on edge. It feels like all eyes are on the constantly fluctuating statistics and the maps of the U.S. dotted with red and blue. We won’t know until it’s all over, of course, but if we’re keeping an eye on anything leading up to the election, it should be the voters with the power to have a huge impact on the outcome: Gen Z. In the 2024 election, 41 million members of Gen Z will be eligible to vote, more than 8 million of those for the first time. What factors have shaped their views? What issues are weighing on them as they help choose the next President?

Over the last decade, SheKnows has had an ongoing series of discussions with members of Gen Z to gauge how they feel about serious and substantial topics such as politics, gender and racial equality, and women’s rights. We’ve checked in with them as they’ve grown from energetic kids to insightful teens to young adults poised to make their mark on the world. These evolving conversations have provided a fascinating glimpse into their opinions over the years, but more importantly, how they’re feeling now that they’re old enough to vote — and playing a pivotal part in choosing our next President.

Gen Z Voters: By the Numbers — & Beyond

Nearly half of Gen Z voters (45 percent in the general electorate and 47 percent of newly eligible voters) are people of color, making Gen Z more racially and ethnically diverse than previous generations. But their diversity isn’t all that sets them apart — not by a long shot. Gen Z has spent their teen and young adult years trying to navigate a complex web of interconnected crises, including systemic racism, gender-based violence, crippling student debt, and erosion of reproductive and gender rights, set against the ominous backdrop of climate change. They’ve seen only elections that feel polarizing and divisive, if not downright hostile. Older members of Gen Z report feeling disillusioned by the surge of negativity, misinformation, and harmful rhetoric that has dominated the past three election cycles; they’re tired and cynical, skeptical of each party’s true intentions.

Because of this, the resulting fear and uncertainty that many Gen Z-ers feel for their future has made them especially engaged in social activism, and deeply connected to the causes they’re passionate about. “They lean less into party divisions and are particularly motivated by the issues,” Emily Slatkow, communications director for the progressive youth voting organization NextGen America, said in an article for NBC News.

A recent survey revealed that almost one-third of Gen Z (32 percent) report being regularly active in social justice work, as opposed to just 24 percent of millennials — a number that goes up to roughly 40 percent among college-aged Gen Zers. For 62 percent of Gen Z activists, moral conviction is the top driver; they’re compelled by a deep sense of what is right. Another key motivator, cited by over half, is a personal connection — either their own experiences or those of close friends and family — which sparks their passion for specific social causes.

Back in 2020, a Pew Survey found that 22 percent of registered voters aged 18 to 23 — the oldest members of Gen Z — approved of how Donald Trump was handling his job as President, while about three-quarters disapproved (77 percent). In a September 2024 survey by NBC News, half of Gen Z voters say they’re planning to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, while one-third say they’ll vote for former President Donald Trump; still a bigger gap for Harris, but not quite the majority seen in the 2020 election. The Fall 2024 Harvard Youth Poll, conducted by the Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Harvard Kennedy School, saw Harris leading Trump by a large margin — 64 percent versus 32 percent among likely voters.

Interestingly, while both genders are leaning heavily toward Harris, the rate of female support has far surpassed males; the gender gap, which stood at 17 points in the Spring poll, has nearly doubled and is now at 30 points. “There is this unprecedented gap in Gen Z, in the under 30s, in terms of political affiliation and voting intention. But it’s also worth emphasizing that more of that gap may be driven by the move of young women to the left than it is of young men to the right, Richard V. Reeves, author of the book Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It, told SheKnows. “I think that for most young men it’s actually more a question of feeling quite politically homeless. They don’t see much on the left for them, for sure. And I don’t necessarily think they’re wrong about that.”

But if talk doesn’t turn into action, none of these statistics will matter one iota, which brings us to the biggest question: Will Gen Z show up at the polls? According to the Harvard Youth Poll, absolutely. “Fifty-six percent of young Americans tell us they plan to ‘definitely’ vote in the upcoming election,” the findings state. “Among registered voters, the number rises to 72 percent.” This number has been bolstered by the surprising mid-race candidate swap. Before Harris took over as the Democratic nominee, Gen Z’s motivation to vote was much more lukewarm. “What I’m hearing from my generation, or my peers, is that people aren’t going to vote at all because they’re not feeling satisfied or represented by either of the big options,” Amelia, 21, told SheKnows prior to Biden’s departure from the race. Now, it’s a totally different story.

“Much of this increased enthusiasm among [Gen Z] Democrats is tied to Kamala Harris as their party’s nominee,” says the Harvard Poll. “More than four-in-five (81 percent) of Harris supporters in a direct match-up with Trump are enthusiastic about voting for her, nearly doubling the 43 percent of Biden supporters who said the same in March.” It can’t hurt that Harris’s campaign has intentionally set out to appeal largely to Gen Z voters; after all, teens do spend an average of 8.5 hours a day on screens, swiping through their social media.

The enthusiasm for Harris may be renewed, but it certainly isn’t new. “I hope that a woman could one day be President. I hope that a person of color could be President again,” Gen Z panelist Reed told us in 2020. “And I think that one thing we need to address is this country’s issue with women in office.”And in the same year, fellow panelist Jack mused, almost prophetically, “I don’t know what’s going to happen in four years. I think [Kamala Harris] would be a good President. I’d support her. I’d be able to vote then.”

Well, folks, “then” is now — and it’s Gen Z’s time to be heard. Will they realize the full potential of their impact and turn out in record numbers to vote? It’s a question we’ve waited for the past 10 years to answer … and in two weeks, we’ll all know. In the meantime, watch the full video to see the evolution of these first-time voters.