Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson speaks at VoteFest Chicago. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
CHICAGO – In the sanctuary of a historic church converted into an event space, not far from the hustle and bustle of the Democratic National Convention, a group of young people passionate about politics gathered.
The Youth VoteFest, organized by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, aimed to provide lessons in political organizing. Topics covered included how to organize a high school election campaign and how to build inclusive voter coalitions on campus.
The young attendees heard from a range of high-profile speakers, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson; Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, the nation’s first Gen Z congressman; and Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson, who gained national attention when he was expelled from the House and later reinstated for his participation in an anti-gun protest on the House floor.
Pearson told attendees about his first foray into public policy, when he spoke to members of his local school board about the lack of quality textbooks.
“When you use your power, you shame a few people, then things start to happen,” he said. “We have to remember that we are powerful. And we have to show other people their power. We don’t have to have fancy suits and fancy titles. All you have to do is use your voice, use your vote, use your power. We are powerful, and our power scares people.”
Organizers stressed that the event was nonpartisan, though several speakers and attendees voiced support for Vice President Kamala Harris for president. The Institute of Politics held a similar event with a conservative group of speakers in Milwaukee last month, in conjunction with the Republican National Convention.
The IOP was founded by former Obama strategist David Axelrod, and its director is former Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who opened the program by encouraging the young people in attendance.
“I want you to imagine, just look around you, and every state legislature, you take 10 people out of the state legislature, and you replace them with 10 of you,” she said. “I want you to think about your city council, and you replace that city council with three of you. And I want you to think about Congress, and you replace members of Congress with 20 of you. Do you think you would talk about different things in the legislature, in the city council?”
“Your voice in the chamber matters, especially now. And if young people, younger people, voted as much as people over 65, the priorities of public policy in this country would change dramatically,” Heitkamp said.
Some in the audience had already thrown their hats into various state and local rings. Ashwin Ramaswami, 25, is running for Senate in Georgia as a Democrat. His opponent is Sen. Shawn Still, a Republican first elected in 2022 who was charged in the Fulton County election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Still has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.
Ramaswami said campaigning as Gen Zer comes with challenges. It’s hard to raise money when all your friends are fresh out of college, but there are opportunities too.
“When I’m recruiting, the first thing people see me for the first time is my age, because when they see me, they think, ‘Oh, my kids are your age,’ or they don’t know how old I am,” he said. “I think after talking to me, they start to realize that I have a lot of experience, that I bring a lot of things to the table. In a way, that’s an advantage because then people start to think of me in a different way.”
Other attendees, like Joseph Rice, student body president at Kennedy King College in Chicago, said they were looking for tips on how to increase engagement on their college campuses. The sophomore finance major said he hopes to use what he’s learned to make voter registration drives more effective.
“I’m personally a blue guy, but I’m going to go bipartisan, you know, not to let the students vote for who I want them to vote for, but to let the students vote for who they want to vote for, if that makes sense,” he said. “So I’m going to come at it bipartisan, just so they can vote, just so they can have their information. Whether they vote red or blue is their decision, and I respect that as long as they get to vote.”
One of the men was a red man: former Republican Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, who broke ranks with his party by voting to impeach Trump over the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol and later served on the House committee investigating the Capitol attack.
“People disagree on issues, all of us,” he said. “A hundred years ago, we had the same debate about taxes and everything. And 100 years from now, we’re going to have the same debate. But we’re facing a particular moment in this country where the question is, are you, as young people, when you get to my age — I’m old, I’m 46 — when you get to my age, are you going to have a democracy that works as well as I was able to have when I was your age?”
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