By Nadra Nittle for The 19th
In November, Adah Crandall plans to vote in her first presidential election. There’s no question which candidate she’s supporting: Vice President Kamala Harris.
Crandall, an 18-year-old organizer with the Sunrise Movement, which is made up of young climate activists, said the choice is clear. “I would rather organize under Harris than under a man that … fundamentally doesn't believe the climate crisis is real.”
Former President Donald Trump has labeled climate change a “hoax,” and his administration rolled back climate protections, while Harris’ decisive vote for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allowed the United States to make unprecedented environmental investments. As a senator, she co-sponsored the Green New Deal’s call for a clean energy transition.
Climate change — along with gun violence, immigration reform, Israel’s war in Gaza and reproductive rights — are among young voters' top concerns. They’re demanding that candidates heed their political interests as they emerge as an influential voting bloc. A record 50 percent of 18-to-29-year-old voters turned out for the 2020 election, backing Biden more than any other age bracket. Two years later, young voters thwarted a potential red wave, helping Democrats pick up another Senate seat. This fall, they’re expected to represent over a fifth of the electorate.
By 2028, people under 40 will constitute a voter majority, according to Erin Heys, policy director and senior researcher for the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans, a research center at the University of California, Berkeley.