2022 Midterms Guide: The 7 Key States Where Zillennials Have the Power to Sway the Vote
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Back in 2020, Gen Zers and young millennials—aka zillennials, folks between the ages of 18 and 29—mobilized en masse across America. They marched, flooded TikTok, rallied historically underrepresented constituencies, and ultimately voted their way to some historic wins for lawmakers in battleground territories. Although younger Americans made up only about 17 percent of the voting population at the time, this highly engaged cohort was key to ousting then-president Donald Trump and sending Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House.
Now, with the 2022 midterm elections approaching on November 8, the hope is that this generational wave gains even more momentum. Over eight million (!) 18- and 19-year-olds have joined the ranks of eligible voters since the last general election. And once again, their presence at the polls has the potential to shape the country’s political landscape/
As proof of concept—and because collective power is one of our favorite topics here at Cosmo—this 2022 midterms guide is zeroing in on states where zillennials have major political muscle right now, along with who’s running and what’s at stake.
On a national level, youth voter turnout has been trending upward in recent years, about 50 percent of the under-29 electorate cast ballots in the 2020 presidential contest, marking a huge 11-point increase over 2016. Young women—and especially young women of color—played a critical role then, and are primed to do so now, explains Alberto Medina, who leads communications at Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), a non-partisan research center that covers youth engagement and works to empower them in civic life.
Buuut half of young voters were no-shows in the last election cycle. And as of this year, in at least 21 states, a smaller percentage of young people have signed up to vote at all versus in 2018. If you’re feeling disillusioned with American democracy at the moment…fair. It also doesn’t help that certain lawmakers have enacted voter suppression measures, with an effect of disenfranchising people of color, rural citizens, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. But the truth is that 76 percent of boomers have been turning out to vote when the world is literally ours to inherit.
For anyone who could use a quick civics refresher: The midterms, which happen every two years, have far-reaching implications, even if they don’t hog the spotlight quite like a POTUS race does: All 435 seats in the House of Representatives go up for grabs, along with about one-third of all Senate seats (34 this time around), some governorships, and a bunch of state and local offices. This year, ballot measures on critical issues like abortion rights and minimum wage are being put to a vote in some states too.
Cut to a generational power grab. If you haven’t already, you can still register to vote (possibly on your phone, depending on your state!). Pinpoint your polling place and figure out a voting plan. Also extremely helpful? Reading up on who and what will be on your ballot so you can go in with a laser-focused mission for making a difference. This 2022 midterms guide is your rundown of crucial races where your vote could change everything.
Nevada | Michigan | Arizona | Georgia | Pennsylvania | Wisconsin | North Carolina
Thirty-one percentage points: That’s how much the state’s youth voters preferred Biden over Trump in the last presidential contest, marking one of the biggest divides in the country. Nevada’s newish “motor voter” law, which took effect in 2020, is tapping into even more zillennial power by automatically registering eligible people to vote when they go to the DMV to get a license or state ID. Youth voter registrations in Nevada are up 12 percent over 2018. Strong turnout from the state’s young voters, who tend to lean left, could very well decide the outcomes on November 8.
Pivotal Races on the Ballot
Senate: Catherine Cortez Masto (D) vs. Adam Laxalt (R)
Incumbent Cortez Masto, a former attorney general, highlights her commitment to environmental protections for public land, combating human and sex trafficking, and expanding economic opportunities for working families. Laxalt too served as attorney general, but the similarities pretty much end there. The Trump-backed candidate says he intends to finish building a wall along the state’s southern border and will serve as a “reliable vote” against “extreme” proposals brought by Democrats concerning abortion and reproductive health.
Gubernatorial: Steve Sisolak (D) vs. Joe Lombardo (R)
Sisolak, the current governor and first Democrat to occupy the office in more than two decades, has vowed to prioritize lowering the costs of childcare and prescription drugs, controlling tax hikes, and expanding reproductive freedom within the state. Trump-endorsed Lombardo is an anti-abortion sheriff who describes himself as “the only candidate in the race for governor who has carried a gun every day for the past three decades.” Sure. He’s campaigning on a promise to help struggling constituents with everyday costs; he also intends to rid the state’s education system of “dangerous restorative justice policies.”
Also in the balance: four House seats, secretary of state, attorney general. Ballot measures include a proposed 12.5 percent minimum wage hike.
During the last presidential election, 54 percent of 18- to 29-year-old Michiganders cast ballots, delivering Biden 194,000 votes—which is truly wild considering that Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes. As in other parts of the country, youth voters of color came out strong for Dems: 77 percent went for Biden. Now, their presence could be the tipping point of which candidates come out on top.
Pivotal Race on the Ballot
Gubernatorial: Gretchen Whitmer (D) vs. Tudor Dixon (R)
Incumbent Governor Whitmer faces off against Dixon, a former steel exec and conservative media commentator endorsed by Trump. Whitmer’s campaign highlights her record of reaching across the aisle (800+ bipartisan bills strong so far, according to her camp) and her work on behalf of everyday citizens: creating jobs, repairing roads, expanding pre-K and education funding, all while turning the state budget deficit into a surplus. Dixon, meanwhile, is calling for a stop to the “indoctrination of children” in American schools, along with a near-total statewide ban on abortion.
Also in the balance: 13 House seats, 11 additional offices including in the state senate and school boards. Several statewide measures including codifying the right to reproductive freedom, changes to term limits and financial disclosures for legislators, voting accessibility policies.
Arizona’s young voters were a formidable force in the 2020 election: An eye-popping 88 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds cast ballots. Given that about a third of that state’s population are young people of color, who tend to vote Democrat, the youth electorate could make the difference for lawmakers trying to hold their ground in the battleground swing state.
Pivotal Races on the Ballot
Senate: Mark Kelly (D) vs. Blake Masters (R)
Incumbent freshman Kelly is defending his seat against Masters, a Trump-endorsed venture capitalist with close ties to controversial tech titan Peter Thiel. Senator Kelly (a former astronaut and Navy pilot, and husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords) has worked across the aisle on legislation aimed at decreasing corporate influence in Washington. He recently co-introduced legislation aimed at improving safety for migrants and law enforcement officers at the border. Masters is campaigning on a hardline MAGA platform that includes anti-immigration, anti-abortion, and anti-establishment policy plans.
Gubernatorial: Katie Hobbs (D) vs. Kari Lake (R)
With Republican Doug Ducey vacating the seat, Hobbs—Arizona’s secretary of state since 2019—is looking to make a move after previously serving for eight years as a lawmaker in the state legislature. Her track record includes working to clear Arizona’s backlog of rape kits and expanding Medicaid for seniors. She also guided Arizonans through an intense recount in 2020 (more on that in a sec). Lake, a former TV news anchor and self-proclaimed voice for the silent majority, is campaigning on a conservative platform of “common sense” that aims to eliminate critical race theory and “cancel culture.”
Secretary of State: Adrian Fontes (D) vs. Mark Finchem (R)
Think of this race as America’s litmus test on tolerance for false claims of election fraud. Fontes is a former Maricopa County recorder—the elected official who maintains public documents and records—where pro-Trump forces leveled fictional accusations of mass voter fraud in 2020, when Hobbs was in the seat. If elected to the state level, Fontes promises to protect election integrity and uphold democracy in the face of would-be extremist interference. Interference from, say, Finchem, a Trump-backed congressman who supported the “Stop the Steal” movement and participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Also in the balance: 9 House seats, attorney general, 13 other elected offices. Ten statewide ballot measures include a proposal that would require voters to show government-issued photo IDs at polling centers and a (very meta) proposal to allow the state or federal SCOTUS to nix any voter-approved ballot measures they decide are unconstitutional.
The Peach State’s youth electorate—20 percent of the population, one of the largest in the country—deserves major credit for delivering election-tipping leads to Dems in 2020. Especially Black youth: In the face of ongoing voter suppression tactics targeting BIPOC and rural constituencies, they determinedly mobilized for progressive candidates.
Pivotal Races on the Ballot
Gubernatorial: Stacey Abrams (D) vs. Brian Kemp (R)
Abrams—a former House minority leader for the Georgia General Assembly and House representative—first ran for governor in 2018 and lost to Kemp by a mere 54,723 votes. Abrams has since emerged as a national leader and advocate on the matter of voting rights. For this rematch, Kemp is running on a conservative agenda that prioritizes economic growth. He recently signed the controversial Election Integrity Act of 2021 into law, putting new restrictions on access to drop boxes, criminalizing the act of giving out free water to voters waiting in line at polling places, as well as adding new ID requirements.
Senate: Raphael Warnock (D) vs. Herschel Walker (R)
Warnock, an incumbent freshman and pastor who is the first Democratic senator to rep Georgia since 2005, promised to help restore “the right of Georgia women to make their own health care decisions” after a 6-week abortion ban—a state law passed in 2019, before Warnock’s tenure—took effect in July. Warnock also pledges to slash the costs of prescription drugs and address the disproportionate toll of the climate crisis on Black and brown communities. Walker, a retired NFL running back endorsed by Trump, has been dogged by controversy, including accusations that he lied about the number of children he has and questions about his claims of having worked in law enforcement. As a candidate, Walker has emphasized economic and national security issues as well as anti-abortion measures.
Also in the balance: 14 House seats, secretary of state, attorney general. Several ballot measures, including one that would halt paychecks for certain public officials in the event they are suspended from office due to a felony charge.
Here in the Northeast’s only major swing state, youth voters carry a lot of clout: In 2020, 54 percent of that cohort—including 85 percent of youth voters of color—backed Biden. The resulting margin was large enough to override older voters’ preference for Trump and help tip the outcome of the contest.
Pivotal Races on the Ballot
Senate: John Fetterman (D) vs. Mehmet Oz (R)
With Republican Senator Pat Toomey retiring from the political game, Fetterman—Pennsylvania’s current lieutenant governor—is angling for the seat by championing a $15 minimum wage, expanded Medicare benefits, and more efficient applications for clemency for incarcerated people. His opponent, the TV personality, crudités lover, and retired heart surgeon known as Dr. Oz, has earned approval from Trump with a platform that seeks to eliminate undocumented immigration into the U.S. and prevent “a government takeover of health care.”
Gubernatorial: Josh Shapiro (D) vs. Doug Mastriano (R)
Shapiro, currently serving as state attorney general, is on a pocketbook campaign to curb rising costs for everyday constituents. He has also voiced support for abortion rights in his bid for the seat, which is being vacated by fellow Democrat Governor Tom Wolf. Mastriano, a state senator described even within his own party as a far-right long shot, supports a 6-week abortion ban and recently introduced a bill that would allow Pennsylvania teachers to carry concealed guns in classrooms.
Also in the balance: 17 House seats, several other offices, and local ballot measures.
Young voters make up 16 percent of the Badger State’s population, skewing whiter and further right than youth electorates in other swing states. Still, this youthful slice of the electorate netted 6 percentage points for Biden in 2020, which proved essential in a state where Biden’s winning edge was less than 1 percent.
Pivotal Races on the Ballot
Senate: Mandela Barnes (D) vs. Ronald Harold Johnson (R)
Barnes, the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, has been campaigning on a platform of lowering taxes and health care costs for the middle class (e.g., free birth control) as well as codifying abortion rights into the state constitution and passing the state’s Equality Act, which would enshrine nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community. Johnson, running for a third term, is defending his seat with a campaign focused on creating jobs and economic opportunities through tax reform and deregulation; national border security is also a campaign focus.
Gubernatorial: Tony Evers (D) vs. Tim Michels (R)
Incumbent Evers is running on a standard progressive agenda, with continued support for reproductive care, relief for gas and prescription drug costs, and a commitment to certifying election results. Michels, a Trump-backed construction executive, is eager to apply his policy blueprint to hot-button issues like crime—for example, by expanding policing—and so-called election integrity, with a stated pledge to “look at all the evidence” on whether Trump’s 2020 Wisconsin defeat was “rigged.”
Also in the balance: eight House seats, secretary of state, attorney general, and several other offices.
Fifty-five percent of young North Carolina voters flocked to the polls in 2020, producing the South’s second highest youth turnout after Virginia. And with significant representation in the under-30 sector, Black North Carolinians supported Democrats by a margin of more than 90 percentage points, packing a one-two punch that helped shatter early-voting records and very nearly turned this electoral battleground blue for the first time since 2008.
Pivotal Race on the Ballot
Senate: Cheri Beasley (D) vs. Ted Budd (R)
State Supreme Court Judge Beasley, the first Black woman to hold the title in North Carolina, promises to be a stark departure from outgoing Republican Senator Richard Burr—expanded reproductive health care services, student loan reform, and climate action are among her core campaign promises. As for five-year Congressman Budd, this self-described “liberal agenda crusher” is dedicated to fighting against “the left’s woke, socialist agenda and weak foreign policy.” His priorities include restricting reproductive health care and enacting legislation to “teach the greatness and exceptionalism of the United States in our schools.”
Also in the balance: 14 House seats, a number of offices, and local ballot measures.
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