ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
In just a couple of weeks, many members of Gen Z will vote for the first time. This group of young voters has grown up in an era of climate change, social media, school shootings and a global pandemic. It's hard to know how these issues will play out in their politics. But a new podcast from Michigan Public is starting to ask that question. The podcast, "What the Vote?," is a six-part series completely reported by Gen Z interns at Michigan Public. Today, we have an excerpt from the first episode, reported by Northwestern University student and Michigan native Adan Quan.
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ADAN QUAN: It's mid-September on the University of Michigan's campus. Students mill around on their way to and from classes. At a table outside the U of M Museum of Art is a group of students in light purple T-shirts.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hello. Are you registered to vote? Would you like to be?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: OK. And are you from in state or out of state?
QUAN: The shirts have amazing blue logo that reads, Turn Up, Turn Out.
HILLARY POUDEU TCHOKOTHE: And today is National Voter Registration Day, and my group, Turn Up, Turn Out, along with the UMICH Votes coalition, are registering students to vote.
QUAN: That's UM junior Hillary Poudeu Tchokothe. She's the co-president of Turn Up, Turn Out. It's a student group focused on voter registration on campus. Poudeu Tchokothe says the peer-to-peer model of the organization is what makes it work.
POUDEU TCHOKOTHE: And it's like, you know, less scary that way. Someone that's my age, someone I know that sits in my classes, you know, giving me voting information, that cares about me, that wants me to vote wherever I want to vote.
QUAN: This year is shaping up to be a pivotal election year for everyone, but especially for younger voters. Many of us will be casting ballots for the first time. It's estimated that 41 million members of Gen Z will be eligible to vote in November. So as our generation comes into political power, how are our peers leveraging that power? And what does it mean for Gen Z to have a seat at the table in politics?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We're at the age now where it's our responsibility to start turning the tables, to start shifting things.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: We are the ones who have experienced it the most and the ones that need to elevate our voices to actually make these changes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: We should be involved in the conversations, especially around issues that impact us directly.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: We are serious, and we care, and that's going to show.
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QUAN: Many young people in Gen Z found ourselves interested in or involved in politics from an early age.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Protect our school.
QUAN: One of those student advocates is Aubrey Greenfield. She says she's been tuned into the news from an early age, thanks to her parents.
AUBREY GREENFIELD: I've always been watching the news and kind of seeing what issues are on the table because I knew that even though I couldn't vote at the time, it was still going to impact me.
QUAN: But it was in 2021 that Greenfield became more fully involved in politics.
GREENFIELD: I was a survivor of the Oxford High School shooting that took the lives of four students and left seven others injured. And after that, the issue of gun violence became very, very prevalent and in my face.
QUAN: Now a sophomore at the University of Michigan, Greenfield has become an outspoken advocate on the issue of gun safety reform. Greenfield says that Gen Z politicians and organizers will be important when it comes to making change.
GREENFIELD: Gen Z brings a fresh perspective. It's one of the most diverse generations, so you can offer many different opinions and perspectives based on diverse backgrounds. Also, this generation is incredibly tech-savvy, and because of that, we can use tools such as social media to really advocate for change and organize and inform others about, you know, different local elections or different issues on the table.
QUAN: Her efforts, along with those of other gun reform advocates in Michigan, produced results. Under a Democratic-controlled state government, the state passed reforms to gun laws in the aftermath of the Oxford High and MSU shootings. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed them into law in 2023.
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GRETCHEN WHITMER: Today, we're taking common sense gun action to reduce violence and save lives. Soon, I'm going to...
GREENFIELD: And actually seeing her put her pen to paper and hearing everybody in the room cheer and get excited because future kids were going to be protected and future families were going to be spared from losing a child or an uncle or an aunt or a grandparent - it was incredible.
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QUAN: It's not just politicians who are impacted by Gen Z's votes. Voting in those first years you're eligible can shape how a young person engages with the democratic process moving forward.
MATT GROSSMANN: You're building your habits for the rest of your life.
QUAN: That's Matt Grossmann. He's a professor of political science at Michigan State University. He also directs MSU's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.
GROSMANN: If you don't vote in three consecutive elections that you're eligible to vote in, your chances of voting after that are pretty low.
QUAN: In that behavior, in turn, can have a major impact on those people's lives.
GROSMANN: We're sitting in East Lansing, which is a city that has 50,000 college students and 15,000 other residents. And because the college sudents don't participate in local elections, there are basically no one paying much attention to what the students think when it comes to rent, when it comes to criminal justice policy, economic development, the role of the downtown, all of those things. You know, student voices are essentially absent from the conversation because of these differences in participation and expected participation.
QUAN: Of course, voting isn't the only way to engage in democracy. If Gen Z really wants to have a seat at the table, Matt Grossmann says, there's something else they can do, run for office. So let's talk to some people who did just that.
JASPER MARTUS: My mom took me door to door for Barack Obama in 2008. That really instilled a love for politics in my heart.
QUAN: That's Jasper Martus, the representative for Michigan's 69th House district. He had a few ideas about what he wanted to be when he grew up. A politician was one option. The others, though...
MARTUS: The first one was Batman. No. 2 was to be a professional wrestler. I wanted my father and I to be a tag team called fire and brimstone, but my dad has bad knees.
QUAN: Well, politics it is, then. Martus, a 24-year-old Democrat from Flushing, represents a Genesee County district that includes parts of Flint and his hometown.
MARTUS: My congressman, Dan Kildee, has been a tremendous mentor to me. I started working on his campaign.
QUAN: Martus says many younger people are moving away from the county as soon as they can. He says some left because of lack of opportunities, others because of the lasting effects of the Flint water crisis. Martus hopes to help reverse this trend.
MARTUS: I understood that one representative, one elected official, could not reverse decades of underinvestment overnight, but I thought it was important that our community had a person who had lived through that and experienced it and was bringing that perspective to the table.
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QUAN: While Gen Z may have a reputation as a progressive generation, young politicians come in all political stripes.
BILL G SCHUETTE: My name is Bill G. Schuette. I'm state representative for Michigan's 95th state House District.
QUAN: Bill G. Schuette is a Republican legislator from Midland and son of former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. He is not technically Gen Z, but he's a young millennial, 29 years old.
SCHUETTE: You know, you're just knocking on someone's door, and they say, you know, I just shaved, and they said, gee, you know, are you 16? You know, and I'd be like, no, actually, I'm, you know, 27.
QUAN: Bill Schuette and Martus say they have faced questions about their age as they've been on the campaign trail. Schutte says his confidence and commitment to the role helped dispel any doubts about his age.
SCHUETTE: I tried to take those questions and turn them into a positive. And I think that should be something that, you know, young people trying to get involved in politics across the political spectrum should embrace, is make your youth an advantage. Don't let somebody attack you because of that.
MARTUS: In my community, older folks have watched their kids and grandkids move away. They've realized that many young people no longer call our community home. So the fact that I was willing to stay and to fight for our community and be an advocate for our community really ended up being even more of a benefit for my campaign and for my candidacy than it was any sort of negativity. My plea to young people is you have to get involved to have a seat at the table. If you're not showing up to the meeting, if you're not showing up to vote, if you're not letting your voice be heard, then, you know, politicians have a valid excuse to dismiss you.
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QUAN: Aubrey Greenfield, the UM student and gun reform advocate, is happy to see that politicians seem to be paying more attention to Gen Z. But she says there is still work to be done.
GREENFIELD: It's important that the older politicians and older generations who are in office collaborate with the younger politicians who are in office and it's not seen as two separate groups. So I believe that as more Gen Z candidates are elected - because they will be elected, my generation will make sure of it - that it's all about collaboration, communication, learning from each other and understanding that we can't make progress without being open-minded and talking to each other.
SCHMITZ: You can check out issues important to Gen Z voters, such as abortion access, the anti-war movement and racial representation on the Michigan Public podcast, What The Vote? Find it wherever you get your podcasts. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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