Why young voters say they want candidates who will fight for them

Politicians often struggle to relate to Gen Z voters who have never experienced politics without social media, where ideas spread like wildfire and like-minded ideas are prioritized in their feeds.

How much more 8 million young Americans who became eligible to vote this year are studying the candidates with the same vigor as older generations, but without the basic memories of previous elections that were not so combative.

They were children when social movements like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and March for Our Lives emerged, and tweens when former President Donald Trump was elected in 2016.

While Generation Z voters have never experienced presidential politics without the words “fight, fight, fight,” one expert told Knox News it’s a “chicken and egg” scenario about who is to blame.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how we got here. Young voters who may hold the key to the White House in 2024 want persona-driven party politics with candidates who do not compromise.

The elephant in the room

Andy Busch, associate director of the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, said it’s true that angry and aggressive politicians have inspired younger voters. On the other hand, Trump and candidates like him would not have come to power without their penchant for their leadership style.

Busch co-authored “The Elephant in the Room,” a collection of essays by conservative political scientists and commentators on how Trump changed the Republican Party and politics.

Politics has always been divisive, he said. The difference now is that there is more division between parties and less division inside them. Politics has become combative.

‘When you fight, you want a fighter’

The change gives young voters the feeling that someone is working against them. They say it’s a force that doesn’t want them to succeed, and they want their candidates to show they’re pushing back.

Those who are not on their ‘side’ are the enemy.

UT student John Knighton grew up outside Memphis and voted by mail for the first time this year. An ambitious student at the Baker School, he told Knox News he entered politics in 2022, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action. He says his white male colleagues were denied their rightful place at elite universities because of this practice, and he is glad it has ended.

“I think that’s a very motivating factor,” he said. “They tend to think they’re not respected as much by Democrats.”

Knighton wants someone to stand up for him, and more measured politicians won’t cut it. He looks for fiery video clips.

“The feeling that a lot of voters have on both sides is that they are in some kind of fight, so they want their spokesperson to be a fighter,” Busch said. “When you fight, you want a fighter.”

Jill Onks, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, is the other side of the same coin. She felt betrayed when the Supreme Court ruled in 2022 Roe vs. Wade destroyed.

She wants a leader who will defend women’s rights.

“In the months leading up to it, I thought, ‘They’re the Supreme Court, they’re up to the challenge,’” Onks said. “In my mind, I saw (the decision) as a government not knowing how to properly make decisions based on population.”

Onks, who grew up outside Nashville, told Knox News she would have voted for President Joe Biden but was excited at the prospect of a stronger candidate.

“We need someone who is competent and can literally stand up,” she said. “You want to see (a leader) acknowledge people who say, ‘Hey, you all need to resign.’”

Onks and Knighton agree on one thing: they want to feel heard.

Is a compromise out of the question?

Part of the reason these voters are so entrenched in their beliefs, Busch says, is because politicians no longer deviate from their party’s unspoken rules. Liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats are a thing of the past.

Don’t expect another vote like the Republican senator’s. John McCain worked to save Obamacare in 2017.

“In some ways we have more homogeneous parties,” Busch said. “There is no major bloc that is constantly challenging the mainstream (sector) of the party.”

Knighton has accepted that on many issues compromise is simply not possible. Win or lose, you better have a champion by your side.

“There are some things we can compromise on and we will be able to find a middle ground,” he said, citing immigration and taxes as examples. “But there are fundamental principles of things that we actually think will be harder to compromise.”

Onks disagrees and wants leaders who make compromises. But when asked what an abortion compromise would look like, she paused.

“If you don’t want an abortion, you shouldn’t have one,” she said.

Young voters are at risk of missing out

Young voters appreciate the ideal of compromise, but their emotional appeals to politicians can prevent them from carrying out this ideal.

“I think young voters have a hard time putting into context the unusual things that we sometimes see (in politics) today,” he said. “They haven’t really experienced an environment where candidates don’t call each other idiots and interrupt each other on stage.”

Allie Feinberg covers politics for Knox News. Email her: [email protected] and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg