C.J. Pearson of Georgia, Alyssa Reinelli of Wisconsin, Brilyn Hollyhand from Alabama, and Alyssa are all working together to mobilize younger voters for the Republican Party.
Sarah McCammon/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Sarah McCammon/NPR
C.J. Pearson from Georgia, Alyssa Reinelli from Wisconsin, and Brilyn Hollyhand of Alabama all work to mobilize younger voters for the Republican Party.
Sarah McCammon/NPR
He’ll have to wait until next November before he can cast his first ballot as a Republican. He’ll have to wait until next November to cast his first ballot as a Republican.
And he wants more young voters to join him.
“We drastically underperformed in the midterms,” Hollyhand said of the Republican Party. It was embarrassing. Young voters tend to vote for Democrats overwhelmingly. Young voters tend to vote for Democrats overwhelmingly.
But some young Republicans like Hollyhand, who was in Milwaukee last week for the party’s first Republican presidential primary debate, hope to change that.
Hollyhand is co-chairman of the Republican National Committee’s new youth advisory council, which he says is working to meet young voters where they are – mostly online. He says the RNC assembled a diverse group of voters under 35 for the council.
“That was important to us – that it wasn’t just what the traditional Republican Party was of, you know, ten old white straight males sitting in a boardroom and then trying to tell the country how to run things,” he explained. “We didn’t want that. Hollyhand, a young white straight male, said he worried affirmative action would hurt his chances to get into top colleges. C.J. Pearson, who is Hollyhand’s co-chairman in the RNC youth council, agrees. Pearson, from Georgia, is in agreement.
“As a Black Man in America, I don’t want my achievements to be viewed as ‘Oh, yeah, sure, he’s smart, he’s articulate, he’s well-spoken.’ You know, he has a great resume. “But at the same, did he actually earn that or was it earned because he is Black?” The GOP is behind not only with young voters, but also with women and people of color. The GOP lags behind not just with young voters, but with voters of color – and with women.
Young female voters have expressed particularly strong support for abortion rights.
But for 24-year-old old Alyssa Rinelli of Milwaukee, the Supreme Court decision overturning
Roe v. Wade
is moving the country in the right direction.
Rinelli says it will promote what she describes as greater “personal responsibility” when it comes to sex.
“If you’re going to, you know, do the thing, make sure that you’re protected and you’re being responsible, and perhaps you’re choosing the person that you are going to do it with a little bit more carefully,” Rinelli said. Rinelli said that the Supreme Court decision overturning
Roe v. Wade
will promote what she calls greater “personal responsibility” when it comes to sex. Rinelli believes her party must do more to reach out to younger voters. So, she recently started a local Milwaukee County Young Republicans chapter.
“They’re really just not in front of young voters the way that Democrats are,” Rinelli explained.
But getting the Republican message in front of young voters may not be enough, says Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute.“They can outreach to young voters,” she said. She said, “They can outreach to young voters.” Younger voters tend to disagree with Republicans on issues like abortion and climate change. In the midterms voters aged 18-29 supported Democrats by nearly 30 points according to exit polls. Brilyn Hollyhand, a young Republican, hopes to change this by encouraging her peers to become involved in the coming months.