Harris needs Gen Z. Here's her plan to win them

Vice President Harris is bolstering her outreach to young people just in time for students to head back to school and as the campaign enjoys an increase in support among Gen Z and younger millennial voters.

The campaign tells NPR that it plans to invest in new digital ads on campus and social media, double its youth organizing staff around the country, and launch a college campus tour in battleground states.

The initiatives will target young voters on 150 campuses across 11 states: Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota and Nebraska.

It builds on the work the Biden campaign has done with youth organizing and highlights a potential shift in prioritizing this group of voters. Biden’s campaign put more emphasis on reaching traditional Democratic base voters, including voters of color, suburban families, and union workers – groups Harris is also courting along with young voters.

“So, as you begin this school year, I'm calling on you to understand and know the stakes of this election, not only for our country but for you,” Harris said in a prerecorded video posted to a new campaign landing page for students, which has links to register to vote and ways to get involved on campus.

“And please know your power,” she added. “Get out there and vote. It's going to make a difference.”

Harris’ backing among young people has increased since she took over the Democratic ticket last month. It’s a noticeable change compared to President Biden, who struggled in the polls with young voters, particularly voters of color.

In 2020, Biden won among voters under 30 by a whopping 24-point margin, with some of the highest turnout among young voters of color in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But over the past year, he lost favor with young voters around the country, many of whom disagreed withsome of his policy choices and expressed concern over his age.

Throughout Harris’ tenure as vice president, however, she’s championed a handful of issues that are top of mind for younger voters – notably protecting reproductive rights and curbing gun violence. She also led a multi-state college tour last fall.

The Harris campaign announcement coincides with a series of campus stops for campaign surrogates, which will continue over the next several weeks: Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson is talking with students at the University of Pittsburgh, and Gen Z Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., is visiting the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bennett College in Greensboro.

“Young voters know the impact that this election will have on their futures, from the freedom to make our own health care decisions to addressing the climate crisis to being safe from gun violence to our ability to find a home and pay the rent,” Frost said in a statement from the Harris campaign.

“The only way we will win is by organizing everywhere and it’s up to us to turn the energy we’re seeing into action to win in November,” he said. “I am confident that we will see record youth turnout this November.”

The campaign says it will focus on reaching students at state schools, community colleges and institutions that serve minority students.

These steps follow an action-packed week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which included a handful of youth-focused organizing events and programming, along with a handful of young speakers during the convention program each night.

Harris has also been the subject of a viral internet frenzy largely stemming from younger Americans, who have been making edits of her old speeches and remarks. It’s a style the campaign has not so subtly adopted, notably on TikTok, where Harris has grown in following. In the campaign’s most recent post, they took that same structure, riffing off former first lady Michele Obama’s speech at the convention last week.

Former President Donald Trump has high engagement on TikTok and significantly more followers than Harris does on her personal account. But Harris’s campaign account, ‘Harris HQ,’ is outperforming Trump’s in terms of engagement in posts.

Trump’s campaign is also courting young voters. He’s appeared with prominent social media influencers and done interviews on popular podcasts with comedians and content creators. The former president also continues to collaborate closely with Turning Point Action, the organizing wing of the far-right youth-focused group Turning Point USA.

But Trump and Harris have different objectives for reaching young voters. Trump doesn’t need this age group to win the presidency. Harris very well might.

It’s something her campaign is aware of. They say they’re working to harness and sustain the increase in energy from young voters through the end of the election.

“It is because of the record turnout among college students in 2020 that I am vice president today. And to win this election, I need your support. Harris said in a letter to college students posted on the campaign’s student page.

Her campaign says their new digital organizing effort will include a national Snapchat takeover, where the campaign will push ads over the platform. They will also run targeted ads on other social media platforms as well as on campus newspapers and college websites.

Harris and outside groups supporting her have dropped $246.3 million in total national advertising over the past month, $50 million more than Trump and outside groups supporting him.

The Harris campaign has had staff dedicated to engaging young voters since the beginning of the year and launched a student-focused program in March. Their latest announcement brings the total staff focused on youth organizing around the country to 150 people, boosting it from roughly 70 to 80.

Harris’ National Youth Engagement Director, Eve Levenson, has been leading the campaign’s outreach to young people.

“Our campaign is capturing the incredible groundswell of excitement and enthusiasm,” she said in a statement to NPR, “and turning it into action.”