Voters of Tomorrow PAC is launching a campaign urging almost 2,700 unregistered young voters to make their voices heard in the battleground race for California’s 27th Congressional District.
The district includes the Antelope Valley communities of Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster and is one of the most competitive house seats in the nation. It is currently controlled by Republican Rep. and former U.S. Navy pilot Mike Garcia, who is being challenged by Democratic candidate and former NASA Chief of Staff George Whitesides.
Through the initiative, 2,685 unregistered 18-to-35-year-olds in CA-27 will be sent voter registration information by mail and also receive a follow-up text and phone call urging them to cast a ballot this November.
“There are a lot of young residents in this district and we feel like the policies that are going to be made by the next leader are going to have a great impact on their futures, because they’re potentially starting careers, buying their first homes and setting up a life for themselves,” said Jessica Siles, deputy press secretary with Voters of Tomorrow. “We want to make sure that young people are voicing their opinions, playing their part in shaping their future and taking full advantage of the power that they have.”
The district is one of the top ten House seats in Tufts University’s Youth Electoral Significance Index, which ranks races where young voters are likely to have the biggest impact on the outcome. CA-27 is included high in this list because the race is very tight and the district has an above average share of college students.
Voters of Tomorrow PAC is running voter registration campaigns in all top ten congressional districts in the Youth Electoral Significance Index and are seeking to reach a total of 10,000 unregistered young voters. A pilot version of the initiative successfully registered more than 1,140 new voters in New York swing districts earlier this year.
While Voters of Tomorrow is not officially affiliated with a particular political party, the organization’s policy platform, like Gen Z voters themselves, leans left. According to a 2024 Pew Research Study, about two-thirds of voters ages 18 to 24 associate with the Democratic Party and one-third aligns with the Republican Party.
“We conduct our own polling year round and the issues that we find are motivating to Gen Z are things like the climate crisis and abortion rights,” said Stiles. “We are not in any way tied to the Democratic Party, we just try to advocate for Gen Z and that happens to include Democratic policies most of the time.”
Some of the top issues listed in Voters of Tomorrow’s platform include raising the minimum wage, making housing affordable to all, preventing gun violence, investing in clean energy, establishing LGBTQ+ equality and protecting reproductive rights. The organization has chapters in 25 states, including California, and a volunteer presence in all 50.
The communications team for Rep. Garcia did not respond to a request for comment on the Gen Z voter registration drive.
The race for CA-27 is ranked as a toss up by the Cook Political Report.
In 2020, Garcia defeated Democratic candidate Christy Smith by just 333 votes. With margins that tight, like these an influx of 2,700 new young voters could have a significant impact on the race.
In 2022, however, Garcia beat Smith once again by a much more comfortable margin of almost 13,000 votes.
Now, he faces a fresh challenger with deep pockets.
As of campaign finance records through June 30, Whitesides has outraised Garcia by $1.4 million collecting $5.8 million compared to Garcia’s $4.4 million.
Garcia has the benefit of deep roots in the district, where he has spent most of his life, as well as over four years of good will built up by using federal earmarks to fund community organizations and causes. His campaign platform includes bringing new jobs to the district, supporting law enforcement, securing the border and reducing inflation through cutting government spending and taxes.
Whitesides moved to the district around 2010 when he became CEO of Virgin Galactic. His campaign is focused on defending reproductive freedom, growing local jobs, protecting communities from wildfire risks and increasing funding for local law enforcement.
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