Get them on social media and keep it authentic, Gen-Z consultants advise candidates

After Gen Z voters turned out in record numbers in 2020, consulting firms hope to help candidates reach an electorate skeptical of more traditional appeals.

After Generation Z voters turned out in record numbers in 2020, a nascent but growing crop of consulting firms hopes to help candidates better reach an electorate skeptical of more traditional appeals.

“The Gen Z electorate can make or break the election in some of our key races,” said Ashley Aylward, 26, a research manager at HIT Strategies, a Washington-based public opinion research firm focusing on youth and minority voters.

The firm was started in 2019 “because we were seeing so many political operatives kind of just dismissing the emerging electorate — young people, people of color,” she said.

About 8.3 million young people became eligible to vote in the 2022 elections, according to Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. As more of Gen Z reaches voting age, experts have advised candidates to change their strategies to appeal to new voters.

“Young voters care a lot, and they do engage in politics, they just engage in very different ways than what candidates and what many older officials want them to,” Aylward said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/gen-z-consultants-advise-candidates-rcna49216

---