by Zayd Hamid

Last week, the PW Perspective’s Zayd Hamid spoke with several young voters to gauge their reaction to President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election. Now, he reports on feedback from more young voters on the presumptive nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has to this date earned more than $200 million in donations from several groups. 

As the Democratic National Convention draws near in Chicago, amid reports of Vice President Harris already securing enough pledged delegates to officially receive the nomination, what are local voters saying about her chances in November?

Many young voters, as demonstrated by a recent statement from Virginia Young Democrats, are in favor of an open primary. But others like 23-year-old Prince William County political advocate CJ Davis feel that Democrats “need to unify and support Kamala.” She points to the record-high ActBlue donations Vice President Harris has received on ActBlue as an indicator of Democratic unity around the presumptive new nominee.

Alexis Reid, a sophomore at George Mason University, is excited about the possibility of the first African-American and Indian-American woman to be running for the highest office in the land. “I think it’s wild,” she says, “it’ll be a million in one chance if she wins. We need all the votes we can get. We all need to rally together and vote like our lives depend on it.”

Excitement from voters like Alexis about a potential Harris-led administration can be seen around the country. Last Sunday, there were approximately 47,000 Black women joined on an in-conference call, headlined by Texas congressional representative Jasmine Crockett. The Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, of which Vice President Harris is an AKA member, are hosting a voter expansion drive. Here in Virginia, leading Democratic political figures including Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas and Speaker Don Scott are rallying support behind Vice President Harris with what time they have before the party’s convention.

While many leading Democrats and young voters have seamlessly switched their support from President Biden to Vice President Harris, others, such as George Mason University sophomore, Griffin Crouch have reservations. 

Griffin expressed concern about the Democratic campaign due to Vice President Harris’ previous failure to secure the Democratic nomination in 2020. But, like Alexis, he believes that electing the “first woman and woman of color to lead our country” will motivate young voters and contribute to real change. 

“I wasn’t as excited about Harris at first. But between Biden dropping out and now, she’s begun to build herself as someone who could bring back the energy and mission around a candidate that I think the Democratic Party has been missing since Trump won,” he reflected. “Harris spent a long time as the top prosecutor in our biggest state, getting wins for the people by taking on huge companies to uphold the law. Kamala is progressive and pragmatic, able to compromise & accomplish goals.”

Vice President Harris, due to her leadership on women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, has also attracted independents and libertarians to her campaign. 

“I’m excited because, though she’s not the most charismatic, she has legal experience and expertise. The country needs someone with a good head on their shoulders, is rational, and has seen more than the cushy life of politicians,” one female libertarian student remarked. 

“Can we stop putting forward people that are my grandparents’ age? They don’t understand the current world,” she opined in reference to President Biden and former president Trump among other candidates. “Also, it makes me so angry that people are saying she made it to the top via sexual favors. People just don’t want to see a woman succeed.”

As fundraising and polling data shows, the Vice President Harris’ leadership of the Democratic ticket has brought new life into the campaign and changes to messaging. Future milestones for the campaign such as the announcement of Vice President Harris’ running mate and the events of the Democratic National Convention are likely to continue building momentum for her going into November. 

((Zayd Hamid is the 2023 Student Advocate of the Year, member of the National Institute of Lobbying and Ethics, member of the National Society for Leadership and Success, and a current Master of Public Policy student at George Mason University. Find out more about his resume services by visiting his LinkedIn page.)