Gen Z trusts elections, but not Washington

For younger voters, election-related corruption is less of a concern than for older generations.

Four percent of Gen Zers say they’re worried about election fraud and cheating ahead of the midterms, compared with 14 percent of millennials, 21 percent of Gen Xers and 23 percent of baby boomers, per a CBS/YouGov poll.

The results also show that young adults are more concerned with an “unwanted election outcome.” Seventeen percent of the age group is worried about it, compared with 13 percent of millennials and Gen Xers and 11 percent of boomers.

“Generally, Gen Z does not trust D.C.,” Dakota Hall, executive director of Alliance for Youth Action (AYA), told The Hill. “Nor is trust built for them in D.C. It’s built for them down the street.”

Politicians like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) serve as a case study into young adults’ trust in local politics. His campaigns to fix potholes and basketball courts, among other things that affect New Yorkers’ everyday lives, foster confidence in the city’s political system.

Hall quoted an interview that podcaster Theo Von conducted with Mamdani. “You’re just giving people a chance to breathe,” he told the mayor.

To Hall, this concept is key to young voters.

Reports of corruption in Washington, including the Jeffrey Epstein files or President Trump’s inflated earnings while in office , muddy the waters for Generation Z.

AYA polling from October found that corruption in the political system either tied or beat jobs and the economy as a top concern for young adults in the states it surveyed.

“A lot of people view the corruption as to why they can’t get a job,” Hall said. “A lot of young people were in favor of the DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] efforts because they thought it would even the playing field for them.”

In reality, the economic conditions have worsened as the cost of living has increased.

“Young people have the highest bulls‑‑‑ meter of all time, and they’re more informed than people believe them to be,” Hall said.

Gen Z may not be as tuned in to legacy media as older generations, but that does not make it less informed. Young adults get news on social media, including from influencers they grow to trust. This is similar to their interest in local politics: seeing familiar faces break down what’s happening and why it’s important.

Politicians are going to have to change their messaging to regain that trust, and it starts at elections.

“We have to talk like normal people,” Hall said. “That’s where Gen Z is going to make that change.”

For Dylan Hedtler‑Gaudette, who leads government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, younger generations’ better media comprehension might explain their less prominent focus on corrupt elections.

“Younger people are a bit more competent at understanding, especially in the sort of digital space, being in social media or the traditional internet or anywhere else, how to make distinctions between actual information and bulls‑‑‑,” Hedtler‑Gaudette told The Hill.

Will Gen Z actually show up on Election Day?

Generation Z has been told that every election it has voted in is the most important one yet, but it’s getting repetitive.

Some polls have found that Gen Z is more midterms motivated than ever. An URGE and HIT Strategies survey of young voters found that 93 percent said they “will certainly” or “probably” vote in this year’s midterms.

But others, like one from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Politics , found that Americans aged 18-29 are less enthusiastic than in previous years.

Thirty-three percent of young Americans said they plan to definitely vote in November, down from the 2018 and 2022 midterms, where 40 percent said the same. The poll also found that 50 percent of Gen Z Democrats plan to vote, compared with 34 percent of Republicans.

An analysis from the Grand Bargain Project on 2024’s voter turnout numbers looked at why fewer than half of eligible Gen Zers showed up.

“Young people care. They are highly engaged through social media and online. They do not vote because they do not think it will make any difference,” the Grand Bargain Project wrote.

“More empty promises and inspired talking points will not convince them otherwise. Generation Z is disillusioned with political pandering. It will take a new approach to bring them to the ballot box. It will take real, legitimate change.”

Some Gen Zers, like Alexander Brown, youth leadership analyst and CEO of Together!, are poised to believe that young adults now understand the value of their vote.

“Gen Z is now feeling that their voice has to translate over into electoral power,” Brown told The Hill. “We understand that the catalyst is translating that over to our vote.”

As gas and energy prices continue to climb, Gen Z may be more motivated to show up on Tuesday, as affordability is top of mind .

“Gen Z is influenced by digital trends and social media that are able to tailor to their needs. Ultimately, what Gen Z wants are things broken down into layman’s terms, to know how it will benefit them,” Brown said.

He added that in the past, a lot of issues have been used as a form of “political theater,” but the issues young adults are facing today require distinct policy change. Gen Z will show up in “droves” to elect local, state and federal leaders, Brown predicts.

“We don’t want to live a life of tough times,” he said.

One last thing: Democrats dominate the TikTok midterm algorithm

Democratic candidates dominated TikTok ahead of November’s midterms, according to Knox Digital.

Fifteen percent of Republican candidates posted on the social media platform between January and October, compared with 51 percent of Democrats. And Democrats received 76 percent of all candidate views, while the GOP received 24 percent.

TikTok is dominated by Generation Z — 56 percent of U.S. adults aged 18-24 use the platform, per Pew Research . These insights into what politicians are pouring into the platform show a sliver of how they seek out attracting younger voters.

TikTok reveals a key weakness in the GOP’s midterms communications, Knox Digital said. Attack content performs best for Democrats, but Republicans make more of those videos.

Democrats prioritized posting about corruption, including the Epstein files, the cost of living and healthcare. Republicans, meanwhile, focused on crime and policing, attacks on the other party and immigration.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) topped their respective parties’ TikTok takeovers. Booker received 371.8 million views and 30.8 million engagements, and Gill received 280.3 million views and 29.3 million engagements.

Knox Digital tracked TikTok accounts of 303 House and Senate candidates across 48 states, covering 31,872 videos between Jan. 1 and Oct. 23.

The Feed is a weekly scoop on Generation Z put together by three Generation Z editors at The Hill. We’re working to understand the ins and outs of our generation’s politics. Send tips or comments to awalker@thehill.com, jfeldstein@thehill.com or cleibowitz@thehill.com.