In bid for young voters, GOP identifies economy, education as key issues, confronts TikTok dilemma

Republicans have long trailed Democrats in the quest to get young voters to the polls and select their nominee in presidential races. But the GOP thinks it has a winning message this year with the economy and now appears ready to meet potential voters on their own turf.

"There is a huge concern among younger voters about home ownership and finding a good job to pay for it," says Jesse Hughes, chairman of the College Republicans at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia. "Fifty years ago, you could be a single-income household and could afford to own a house. That’s not the case. We need to address the economic factors that contribute to that."

The U.S. under Democrat President Joe Biden has had periods of record-high inflation, though some were the direct result of the pandemic. Now the country is trying to stave off a recession through a series of interest-rate hikes. 

According to a recent survey conducted by Tufts University, 41% of young voters in the 18-29 demographic said inflation and gas prices were their top concerns.

The survey also found that 29% of respondents said abortion rights were their main priority, while 25% said they were worried about jobs that could pay a living wage. 

Democrats are frequently accused by fiscal conservatives of pitching government spending programs to attract voters.

Recently through executive action, Biden forgave billions in student loan debt, which critics called a blatant, election season ploy. However, the plan is at least temporarily on hold until the Supreme Court rules on two legal challenges.

The Biden plan would cancel as much as $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of borrowers and cost an estimated $400 billion, the most expensive executive action in U.S. history.

"The Democrats love to lure in young voters by promising government benefits and free college for useless degrees," said New York Young Republicans Policy Chairwoman Justine Murray. "The GOP needs to address why this doesn’t work."

A post-2020 presidential election cycle survey shows Biden won 60% of the vote among voters 18 to 29 years old – significantly better than 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton did in that age group. 

One frequently cited explanation for such success is that Democrats have been historically better at voter engagement through social media than their GOP counterparts.

Former President Barack Obama began this trend on his campaign trail back in 2008 when he was running for the Democratic presidential nominee. Since then and in recent years, the Democrats have now added TikTok to their social media resources.

GOP elected officials and even some Democrats want to ban the short-form video app over its China-based owners' connection to the Chinese Communist Party and concerns over the collection of U.S. user data.  

“We need to start using social media to our advantage," says Nico Delgado, spokesman for the North Valley Young Republicans in Arizona.

"I know TikTok is controversial and China owned. But there’s thousands of young Democrats who have TikTok and use it to influence millions of kids before they are able to vote. We need the [Republican National Committee] to start making videos and putting ads into TikTok that will actually reach Gen Z." 

The group's president, Ari Bradshaw, says one of the most important 2024 issues to him is school choice. 

Arizona has been one of the leading states in school choice. Under a recently enacted policy, families can receive over $6,500 a year for each child for tutoring, home-schooling, a micro-school or to attend a private school or any other form of education provided outside of a traditional public school system. 

"I want us to have the best education system in the world," Bradshaw said. "We are so close to getting a perfect education system. I want everyone to have a great education and not have some bureaucrat come in and tell kids where to go."