LI's young voters: How do they feel about November's presidential election?

Democrats pulled off an eleventh-hour change to a younger presidential candidate, causing Republicans to shift their attack strategy. And now, both sides are trying to appeal to a crucial demographic — young voters — heading toward November's general election.

Some young Long Islanders, though, including Katherine Nuñez, are not convinced by either side.

Nuñez, 19, a political science student at Stony Brook University, said she is a registered Democrat but is considering changing her affiliation to Republican. But Nuñez said she won't vote for either former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, or Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Instead, she will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent candidate.

The country is just in a really bad state right now.

— Katherine Nuñez, 19, Stony Brook student

"I just feel like he’s probably the most fit to be president," Nuñez, of East Meadow, said of Kennedy. "I don’t think either [Trump or Harris] is fit enough for the country. I just think the country is just in a really bad state right now. We need a different candidate to help bring it back up."

Newsday spoke to more than 30 young people, from age 17 (and becoming eligible to vote by November) to those in their mid-20s, about their political leanings heading into the Nov. 5 election. Some are registered with a party, some are not. They were asked how the political landscape has changed with the Harris candidacy and about which issues will draw them to the polls.

What emerged was a wide spectrum of opinions, with some seemingly more excited about voting because of Harris' nomination, and others saying they were disappointed in the Joe Biden presidency and believed the country would flourish only if Trump  were reelected.

Some said they remain uninspired by both sides and are leaning toward a third-party candidate or not heading to polls at all.

Hayden Richardson, 18, of Riverhead, said she likely won't register with any major party and is considering not casting a vote. 

If I had to pick right now today, I’d probably not even vote, to be honest.

— Hayden Richardson, 18, of Riverhead

"If I had to pick right now today, I’d probably not even vote, to be honest," Richardson said. "I absolutely would probably lose my mind in that election booth, honestly. Because . . . Kamala is new and everything. And we've seen so much of Trump."

Jake Cohen, 18, of Syosset, a rising freshman at SUNY Binghamton, said he is registered to vote but is "very stumped on who to vote for."

The issues concerning young voters interviewed varied. But reproductive rights came up most often as one very important to their participation in the election.

Getting young voters to the polls is a tough challenge for any candidate, experts say, not only because many feel alienated from the major political parties, but because they are at a stage in life where distractions are plentiful.

But garnering their vote, say the experts, could be key to victory in November.

"Young people can be absolutely decisive [to the election], particularly young suburbanites," Lawrence Levy, the executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, told Newsday. "It’s the hardest group for people who run elections to reach."

Impact of age and the Harris candidacy

Before Harris, 59, took over the Democratic ticket, the presidential race was set between a 78-year-old Trump and an 81-year-old Biden. Harris' relative youth, some young voters say, is a game changer.

Andrew Costella, 22, of Glen Cove and a registered Democrat who plans on voting for Harris, said her impact has been palpable.

"I think it’s energizing the party," said Costella, who works as a legal intern and is set to start law school. "I think it's energizing the country, honestly, and it’s getting voters who felt disenfranchised by Biden and unmotivated back to actually voting."

Denée Valmé, 22, of Dix Hills, said she typically votes along Democratic Party lines, but feels better about the Harris campaign than she did about Biden’s reelection bid because of concerns regarding his age.

She’s better than Biden on most issues, and she looks more capable than Biden, so I’m excited to vote for her in November.

— Denée Valmé, 22, of Dix Hills, on Kamala Harris

"She’s better than Biden on most issues, and she looks more capable than Biden, so I’m excited to vote for her in November," Valmé said.

Joshua Darr, an associate professor of political communications at Syracuse University, told Newsday he believes JD Vance, the Republican Party nominee to replace Harris, is how the GOP is hoping to court younger voters. Democrats have recently seen more success with young voters, Darr acknowledged, but Republicans are also aiming for the same demographic. 

"I don’t think you can say Republicans aren’t aware of [the young vote], when the biggest change this time around has been naming a [40]-year-old, two-year senator as vice president," Darr said.  

"I think JD Vance as a younger candidate is perhaps meant to take over the MAGA movement," Darr continued. "I’m not sure if he was specifically chosen to appeal to younger voters, and I’m not sure if it’s working, but he’s certainly very available online, very present and active on social media."

Ethan Kreit, 26 and a resident of Suffolk County, said he will support the Trump campaign, regardless of his running mate.

"I think [Trump’s] captured the hearts of a lot of young voters, especially in this part of the country," Kreit said. 

   

The opportunity to have [Trump] back in office for another four years is something this country greatly needs. 

— Anthony Mirando, 18, Long Island University student

Anthony Mirando, 18, from East Northport and a student at Long Island University, expressed a similar sentiment.

"I think the opportunity to have [Trump] back in office for another four years is something this country greatly needs," Mirando said. "Our country was in a phenomenal place, the world was in a phenomenal place."

When asked whether Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records would be a factor in his decision to support him, Liam Darrigo, 21, of Northport and a student at Boston College, said he views Trump similarly to a popular music artist with a troubled or controversial background.

I don’t think he’s a great person, but at the end of the day, it matters less about the person than I think the policies in the long run.

— Liam Darrigo, 21, Boston College student

"I don’t think he’s a great person, but at the end of the day, it matters less about the person than I think the policies in the long run," Darrigo said.

Kyle Mastroni, who is 21 and a senior at Hofstra University majoring in political science, said he likes that Harris is more youthful than Trump or Biden, but he also values other differences.

"I think part of it is her age, but I think also she’s just fresh and she’s different compared to what we’ve had for our nominees from both parties for years now," Mastroni said.

Costella said Harris’ age is "definitely an asset," but he would like to see even younger options.

And for him, age is not the deciding factor. He supported Trump ahead of the 2016 election, when he was too young to vote, until he said he realized, "This isn’t someone I can look up to. This isn’t someone that I think should represent the country."

So Costella cast his first-ever vote in a presidential election for Biden in 2020, the result of what he said were failures by Trump during the COVID pandemic. 

On the other hand, Mirando expressed complete disapproval of Biden’s presidency, calling it "horrible from day one," a "mess," and part of why he believes the United States needs another four years of Trump.

Rissa Hall, 18, a rising freshman at Adelphi University and a registered Democrat, said she is not convinced by either candidate, but dislikes Trump strongly. She plans on casting a vote for Harris, who she hopes will "exemplify feminism and women’s rights."

Attracting the young voter demographic

In 2020, Biden carried 65% of the 18-24 aged vote, according to NBC News exit poll data. He also won the portion of new voters younger than 30 by 26%, a demographic that represented 38% of new voters and 15% of all voters, according to Pew Research Center data.

Polls show Harris, who announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, has managed to generate momentum with young voters in the initial weeks of her campaign.

It remains to be seen if Harris can construct the same sizable coalition of young voters that helped lift both Biden and Barack Obama to election victories. Experts say Harris will need to replicate such a coalition if she is to win the presidency. 

"If young people come out in droves, and the Democrats can get the other traditional pieces of their base to vote, Kamala Harris has a really good chance of winning," Levy said.

"If they don’t, [the Democrats] are done," Levy said.

While Biden was still the candidate, he led Trump by only 6 percentage points with voters aged 18 to 29 in a June 2024 New York Times/Siena College poll — a clear indication that his stronghold on a group he had carried more decisively in 2020 had weakened. 

Four days after Harris was endorsed as the nominee by Biden, a July 2024 Times/Siena poll showed a major difference: Harris led Trump among voters aged 18-29 by 13 points.

But a more recent Marist College poll showed that 51% of the GenZ/millennial demographic supported Harris, if the election were held today, and 48% supported Trump. One percent was undecided. The poll was taken between Aug. 1 and 4 and surveyed 1,613 adults. It was done in partnership with NPR and PBS News.

Darr said the Harris campaign seems to be focusing more on the youth vote.

Four days after Harris received Biden's endorsement, her campaign created an official TikTok account, which has quickly amassed more than 4 million followers. Featured on the page are appearances from hip-hop stars Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo, who campaigned for Harris in Atlanta, and Harris' visit with the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team before it departed for Paris.

"It does seem there’s more of a Gen Z ethos to the Harris campaign," Darr said. "I think a lot of the enthusiasm, particularly in an online setting, was really lacking, and that’s dominated by Gen Z, at least in some quarters of the internet . . . but I don’t know there’s a lot of evidence that enthusiasm alone will win you an election."

Reproductive rights a key issue

For many young voters, reproductive rights were a major concern.

"When Roe v. Wade was overturned . . . [it] was the most unfortunate moment in recent American history," Sam Mollineaux, 19, of Huntington and a SUNY Old Westbury student, said. "I think about poor women all over those states that don't have access to abortion. It breaks my heart."

When Roe v. Wade was overturned … [it] was the most unfortunate moment in recent American history.

— Sam Mollineaux, 19, SUNY Old Westbury student

Mastroni also said Harris’ support of reproductive freedoms is important to him.

"When it comes to reproductive rights, granted, that doesn’t directly impact me, but the legislation and how we choose to interpret what we can do to people and their bodies and their bodily autonomy has implications for all of us," he said.

Ava Orobello-Stretch, 19, of Shirley, and a junior at Drexel University; Jalize Irizzary, 18, of Smithtown; Susan Issa, 23, of Deer Park; Cohen; and Costella all said a woman’s right to choose was critical to their support of a candidate.

Mirando took a different point of view, saying he believes women should be allowed to have an abortion only until the point "that a baby is a living organism," though he acknowledged he was not sure when exactly that is. 

Immigration, the environment and the Israel-Palestine conflict also were mentioned by young voters as topics that would influence their votes.

Cohen explained he works at a restaurant where many of his co-workers do not have documentation, so he said he will think about them and the candidates’ stances on immigration when he goes to the polls. 

As a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Haiti, Valmé said immigration is "personal" to her.

Costella, who said he is still open to voting Republican in other elections, praised the Biden administration for working to reduce the cost of living "by investing in clean energy and investing in energy security in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Trump basically did nothing for climate change, did nothing for the environment, rolled back environmental protections and passed a tax law that only benefited the richest Americans. 

— Andrew Costella, incoming law student 

"Trump basically did nothing for climate change, did nothing for the environment, rolled back environmental protections and passed a tax law that only benefited the richest Americans. So I don’t know how that helps the economy," Costella continued.

While Mastroni said he is not well versed in Harris’ environmental policy, he assumes that she is going to continue the United States' participation in the Paris climate accords and other climate-friendly policies. 

"When it comes to climate change, that affects all of us," Mastroni said. "If we don’t make active change to get on the right track, then we’re all in the same boat sinking."

Ana Shore, 25, of Riverhead, said she is optimistic young voters like her will make their voices heard at the ballot box, regardless of frustrations or distractions.

"I think young people are starting to pay attention to a lot more than they used to and are going to vote just because of how politics has been for the last couple of election cycles," said Shore, who ranked reproductive rights and environmental policy as priorities. "I like to think that there are more young people out voting than there have been previously."