Tribe to the Polls: Students Put in the Work on Midterm Campaigns
Students at the College of William and Mary are making their voices heard this midterm season, not only in the voting booth but also on the campaign trail, working for local and national candidates while balancing life as full-time students.
Editor’s Note: This article was written prior to the 2022 midterm election.
It can often feel like nothing good can be said about the state of American politics — whether on the left or right, a devoted moderate or staunch ideologue, the feeling that things are sitting on a razor’s edge pervades. For some, this unease provokes action; for others, it demands disengagement.
In a demographic famous for its apathy, however, many have chosen participation. The 2018 midterm elections saw record youth turnout. Analysis from Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that nearly 30% of young people aged 18-29 voted, a figure double that of 2014. Midterms in general have lower turnout than presidential elections, and that depressed turnout is particularly noticeable among demographics less likely to vote in general, specifically young people.
Salaar Khan ‘23, who works on Herb Jones’ campaign for Congress in Virginia’s 1st District, which includes James City County, disagrees with the prevailing wisdom about young voters.
“One of the biggest myths about Generation Z, especially from older people, is that we’re apathetic,” Khan said. “When you look at specific issues, like the summer of 2020 after George Floyd was murdered, young people came out in a big way and showed how much they cared. But the challenge a lot of times is connecting those issues to candidates.”
As exemplified by Khan, a dedicated group of students at the College, from both sides of the aisle, has chosen engagement over apathy, working on midterm campaigns in one of the most competitive areas of the country while balancing school work and a full social life at the College.
Gen Z came of age in the Donald Trump era. For many, the Trump years represented a political awakening that took place before they were even able to vote themselves. In 2018, the oldest members of Gen Z were 21 and may have voted for the very first time in the 2016 election.
Natalie Boston ‘23, an intern with Williamsburg’s local Democratic Party organization called the Historic Triangle Democrats, says that the 2016 election was “contentious” at her Connecticut high school.
“I saw students arguing with each other, and it became very interpersonal,” Boston said. “I felt like this was affecting us so much and that I’d love to get involved. I can’t just sit while these really impactful elections happen.”
COURTESY IMAGE // JAMES GEORGE
She did get involved, campaigning for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party nominee running against Donald Trump, before she could even vote for Clinton herself.
James George ‘24, an intern on Jennifer Kiggans’ campaign in Virginia’s 2nd District, which closely neighbors Williamsburg, said his friends teased him for his interest in politics during the 2016 election cycle.
“They were like, ‘James, stop it. You’re obsessed with politics — get a life,’” George recalled.
In 2020, an election that saw the highest overall turnout of any in history, Tufts estimated that 50% of young people voted, up 11 points from the 2016 presidential election, with Gen Z, logically, representing a more significant share than in years before.
Khan has spent nearly a decade thinking about the youth vote, first getting involved in his local Democratic party organization in Henrico County, Va. at 13 years old.
As a person with disabilities, Khan says the supportive community around him helped him to succeed despite the challenges he faced, but he saw that wasn’t always the case for others with similar circumstances.
“I think around the time that I was in middle school and getting more politically engaged, I felt like there was a community that supported me, but there was a.) a broken system and b.) a government that wasn’t doing the same thing for others that my community was doing for me,” Khan said. “Not all the people I saw like me had the same opportunities I did.”
When Khan first joined the Henrico County Democrats, he became the organization’s youngest member, with the next youngest being 29 years old. After the 2016 election, when interest in local politics skyrocketed and the party was flooded with new (and younger) members, he ironically became one of the most senior members by rank, despite being only 15 or 16.
Khan made it his goal to connect the party to young people. Before the 2020 election, Khan and a friend formed a student caucus in the Henrico County Democrats to help get students consistently engaged in politics. He also co-hosts a podcast, “Our Seat at the Table,” about engaging young voters in politics.
“When we talk about turnout, there’s a tendency to blame the voters — to say whatever demographic, whether it’s a racial group or an age group — didn't show up; it’s their fault,” Khan said. “To me, it’s the opposite. It’s your job as [a] candidate — as a campaign, as a movement — to engage these people, to give them a reason to show up.”
COURTESY IMAGE // JAMES GEORGE
Knocking on doors, drafting mass texts, and making calls in phone banks, students are trying to connect their candidates to the issues voters care about. And Republican, Democrat, or independent, those issues are the economy and abortion, according to the students interviewed.
With inflation at a high not seen since the 1970s and the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and thus removed federal protections for a woman’s right to an abortion, both Republicans and Democrats are focusing on issues that can mobilize their bases, and the stakes feel high for those spending hours of their time working on these campaigns.
“A lot is on the line,” Khan said. “The 2022 elections are going to set the stage, obviously, for 2024, which people are already thinking about, but also people’s lives for the next 2 years and the decades to come.”
Bryce Earley ‘22, who works for Congresswoman Elaine Luria’s re-election campaign, also sees opportunity and gravity in these elections.
“I believe that abortion rights are at stake. I believe that our economic future is at stake,” Earley said. The economy, Earley said, is important for young people, especially as they look for entry-level jobs and try to pay off student loans.
Sometimes, these students find it nerve-wracking to face voters, whether it’s asking for money on a fundraising phone call or walking up to their doors to ask for their vote.
“When I go up to a door, I sometimes wonder, ‘Is this going to be the guy who tells me to get off his lawn?’” Quinton Kohler ‘24, an intern for Kiggans, said.
“For me personally, it’s very worth it,” George, who often knocks on doors with Kohler, said. “We’re advocating for a cause we believe in. If we don’t put in the effort for this cause, we won’t get the return we want.”
Especially as Election Day nears, balancing school and work has become more of a challenge, especially for those working on the Luria and Kiggans campaigns in the 2nd District, which is anchored in Virginia Beach — an hour-long drive from Williamsburg on a good day and much longer on a bad day. The race is one of the most hotly-contested in the country.
“Balancing it with classes is kind of hard,” Kohler said. “We’re secretly celebrating the end of the election because it means our time suddenly frees up, and I don’t have to spend 20 hours a week door-knocking.”
This feeling is shared by Earley, who drives to Virginia Beach every Monday to work in person.
“At this point in my life, if I had one of those word bubbles, and the biggest words are the ones you say the most, the biggest words would be ‘Elaine Luria,’” Earley said. “Right now I’m feeling exhausted, but I’m feeling exhausted in a way that matters.”
But Earley has no intention of giving up the fight.
“I can see the light at the end of this tunnel, and that’s what keeps me going,” she added. “How important this is and how close we are.”
As students, they all understand academic metaphors. Describing the stress associated with the last week of a congressional campaign, Kohler compared it to a class assignment.
“You’re finishing a school project — you have 10 pages left on the last day, and you need to get it done. But you need an A on this project or you fail,” Kohler explained. “It’s like pass/fail. You either get a 4.0 or a zero.”
COURTESY IMAGE // BRYCE EARLEY