As the 2026 midterm elections rapidly approach, the balance of congress is up in the air. With both parties running vigorous campaigns at the state and federal levels, one voting group has the power to sway the results in one direction or the other. That voting block is our own: Generation Z, otherwise known as Gen-Z.
The voting block born between the years of 1997-2012 will have more electoral power this year than ever before. With that power comes great responsibility. While I have previously talked about how college students can vote in this election, I didn’t necessarily dive in depth as to how critical the Gen-Z vote will be this year.
With election day approaching quicker than we can imagine, dozens of races all across the country will likely come down to the wire. Given how tight the margins can be in these elections, youth turnout will ultimately prove to be the difference between any given candidate winning or losing by a handful of votes.
In a research study conducted by Tufts University, “While over 40 million members of Gen Z were eligible to vote in 2024, more than 21 million did not cast ballots. Almost 50 million Gen Zers will be eligible to vote in 2026.”
Those types of numbers are ones that I simply can’t help being disappointed in. My philosophy has always been that voting is one of our greatest civic duties in this country. Then, to see that over 50% of eligible voters didn’t vote was rather disheartening.
Though midterm election turnout is never as high as the presidential election, the direction in which this country heads after November 3 will undoubtedly come down to how much of Gen-Z goes to the polls.
In 2024, 13 of the 50 states at the presidential level resulted in a single digit win for either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. With a higher youth voter turnout, numerous states could have ended up with entirely different results for either side of the aisle.
When applying a 2026 lens, 35 states are set to have senate races. Of those 35, 15 of them are polling within single digits according to VoteHub. States like Maine, Texas, Alaska, or even New Hampshire to just name a few, are all examples of states once thought to be too far in one direction to flip to the other party. What this political environment is showing is that people are upset all across the board, in red states and in blue states, anger is clearly present towards both parties.
With all that channeling anger, voting this November is the best way to practice your civic duty in this vast, beautiful, deeply complicated country. My early hunch is that we will see surprises across the board, and many results that no one was predicting.
All of this is to say that the Gen-Z vote in this election will be more crucial than it has ever been. With millions of more eligible voters, we have the opportunity to be the decisive age group this year, and that is an opportunity that should not go to waste. So, take the time this November (or earlier) and make sure to have your voice heard at the ballot box.