This story by Lindsey Toomer appeared on Colorado Newsline on May 29, 2024.
Young voters in Colorado are worried about their ability to afford rent across the state, but they haven’t heard enough candidates talk about helping them do so.
Colorado has a primary election on June 25. In the November general election, Coloradans will vote on every U.S. and state representative, some state senators, and a variety of ballot initiatives, on top of the presidential election. As many young people are preparing to vote in some of their first elections, they want to vote for candidates who will prioritize their needs, which they discussed in responses to a survey and interviews conducted by Newsline.
This story is part of Voter Voices 2024, in which newsrooms across the state invited Coloradans to tell us what they want politicians to talk about. The project includes a brief survey that we invite you to complete.
Aiden Niemi, a 21-year-old Gunnison resident, said that, particularly for young people in rural parts of Colorado, housing is top of mind — not just affordability, but housing stock, too. With tourism ramping up in his area this summer, it’s frustrating to see vacation rentals sit empty for nine months of the year when he has friends living in their cars, he said.
Andrew Thompson, a 29-year-old Denver resident, said he wants to hear local candidates talk about addressing Colorado’s lack of affordable housing, particularly for renters.
“I think it’s pretty concerning that legislators at the state level aren’t taking the severity of our housing crisis and income inequality seriously and continue to look at ways that they can help homeowners … people that are already fairly well off, while leaving renters pretty much completely out of the conversation,” Thompson said.
Affordable housing has been a prominent topic of debate at the Colorado Legislature, which has a mixed record in enacting relief. Colorado is often cited as having some of the highest rent prices in the country, and rent in Denver has increased substantially in recent years.
Newsline connected with Thompson through its Voter Voices survey, a collaborative effort with other newsrooms across Colorado to determine what issues most matter to voters and let their agenda guide coverage of the 2024 election.
Thompson said he will vote for candidates who openly support divestment from Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel went to war against Hamas in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people. More than 36,000 people in Gaza have been killed since. Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of financial support from the U.S. since World War II, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Thompson said he will not vote in the presidential election “unless incredibly drastic measures are taken to change our country’s stance in militarism across the globe.”
“No one wants to see their government funding, aiding or abetting genocide of people,” Thompson said. “Young people have a much stronger moral compass and understanding of how a lot of these issues are interconnected, because obviously America’s foreign policy has had an impact on our domestic issues.”
The effect of Dobbs
Arianna Morales, organizing director at New Era Colorado, a nonprofit that encourages young people to engage in the political process, said that in her five years with New Era she has consistently seen young people support reproductive rights and abortion access. After the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion, more young people started to turn out in support of protecting and expanding abortion access, she said.
The Dobbs decision also showed young people the importance of local elections, Morales said, because that is where they can see changes they want within their own communities and state.
Additionally, Morales said young people are passionate about candidates who “support their ability to live basic and comfortable lives,” particularly when it comes to affordable housing. Morales said this includes policies that support renters and increase the minimum wage.
“Housing right now in Colorado is getting more and more like an impossibility for young people to be able to even imagine,” Morales said. “As a young person myself who rents, I every year have a little bit less faith that I’m going to be able to continue renting in Denver, and I think that’s true in all five regions that we organize in.”
Colin Carter, a 19-year-old Fort Collins resident, also said affordable housing continues to be a growing concern, and he wants candidates to talk about working with local governments to find solutions for people who can’t afford housing.
Carter also said that with international conflicts growing in recent years, how a candidate talks about conflict can provide insight on their values.
“I think just from an ethical basis, you can learn a lot about a candidate based on how they handle conflicts like that, and I think that would be really interesting to see people’s takes on,” Carter said.
Charlotte Goldstein is a 17-year-old Denver East High School student who will be old enough to vote in her first election this year. She wants to hear candidates talk about sustainability and climate protection, as well as gun violence prevention. She agreed that while young people represent a large portion of the voter base, many politicians don’t represent their ideals.
“I think older generations tend to be a little bit more traditional with their ideas and tend to be a little bit more focused on the way things are currently, but I think youth can provide a lot of innovation and a lot of new ideas and really just try to get a lot of new movements going,” Goldstein said.
‘A vote is an act of trust’
Colorado state Rep. Tim Hernández, a Denver Democrat, is the first Gen Z legislator in the state. With 100 elected officials in the Colorado Legislature, there should be greater representation of young people in the state, he said.
“There’s something about our generation that says that we’re not just going to push our politics, we’re going to change them,” Hernández said. “I think Gen Z and young people inherently deserve space in a government that works for us, and also gets to the outcomes … that we know that we need because we live with it every day, instead of a bunch of folks theorizing about what we might need.”
To Hernández, it’s understandable for young people to feel like their vote isn’t valuable if they aren’t seeing results once candidates take office.
“We have to give you something to vote for — that’s our job. A vote is not a transaction, a vote is an act of trust that you’re going to try and help my real problems,” Hernández said. “People trust you to help them, and if we don’t actually follow through on that, then I think that’s a really valid reaction that people naturally become apathetic to not wanting to participate.”
Hernández said his priorities as a voter and as a candidate have some overlap, but they also diverge at certain points. For example, renters rights have been top of mind for him as a voter, since he currently pays 60% of his income toward rent. But he also represents many homeowners and therefore has to prioritize talking about property taxes and other housing issues while campaigning.
“I worked on the assault weapons ban, because I want politicians who are willing to do the right thing on guns and not be afraid,” Hernández said. “I think as a candidate and as a voter, that’s an intersection of those things for me — I want it taken care of, and I also have the unique opportunity of talking about how we take care of it.”
Age gap
Carter said he’s not as concerned about what topics candidates discuss — rather he wants them to be truthful and accurate when talking about issues. As he’s preparing to vote in his first presidential election, Carter said he’s feeling cornered and unsure how to proceed.
“Some of the candidates that I’d feel more inclined to vote for, because I like them, I don’t know if they’ll win,” Carter said, “and then some of the candidates that I think are more likely to win, I don’t know if I want to vote for them as much.”
Young people don’t feel as connected to candidates who are much older than them and have more dated opinions, Carter said. When talking to young people, many candidates “don’t sound like they know what they’re talking about” or that they’re actually listening, he said.
“They sound like they’re just trying to figure out what’s cool with the kids and they don’t actually have a concept of how to talk to younger individuals,” Carter said. “You want someone who you see as a clear representation of you, and you don’t really see that, I feel.”
Morales said New Era has always endorsed ballot measures and advocated certain issues, but this year New Era will also endorse candidates for the first time since the Obama administration.
“Typically, we haven’t endorsed candidates because young people are more motivated by the issue and don’t tend to feel super passionate about the candidates that they have to choose,” Morales said. “But more and more in our state, we’re seeing some great youth agenda champions on our ballot, so we want to ensure that those people are getting on the ballot and then are going to be voted for.”