Young voters in these two states could make or break Harris’ chances

But the apathetic may outnumber the engaged. Like Nevada, Arizona has significant share young people. Nearly a quarter of the population is between the ages of 20 and 34; an even larger percentage are people under 19 years of age, representing the next generation of potential voters. AND June report professors at Arizona State University found that voters between the ages of 20 and 30 make up 19 percent of Arizona’s voting-age population and 18 percent of all registered voters in the state; however, in 2022 they only won 10 percent of the vote. Forty-nine percent of these voters are unaffiliated.

Chuck Coughlin, a Democratic strategist who lives in Arizona, said young voters will make up less than 12 percent of the electorate. He predicted that if Harris could expand into these margins, he would win in the belligerent states; but it requires a certain level of enthusiasm. “I think – as much as a 62-year-old white man can comment on this – (young voters) tend to drop out. They say, ‘I don’t want to deal with this shit anymore’ … without acknowledging what a key role they can play in the election,” he said.

It’s a familiar pattern for Ashton, a 17-year-old high school student from Phoenix on the Greenfield canvassing team, who was frustrated that he was slightly too young to vote in this election. His adult classmates, he said, are generally not thrilled about the opportunity to vote. “I think there’s a difference between ‘excited to vote’ and ‘going to vote,'” he said. Still, while Harris may not be a “dream candidate” for young voters, Ashton argued, “we understand that minimal change is still change.”