Two young first-time voters share their priorities ahead of the historic presidential election

Think Out Loud

It used to be that age was one of the biggest predictive factors in whether a person would actually vote in any given U.S. election. However, the participation of younger voters rose in 2020 by more than 10 percent compared with the 2016 election. It’s unclear if that trend will continue.

We’re joined by two members of Gen Z who say they have been looking forward to voting for years. GiGi Whisler is sophomore at Pacific University in Forest Grove, who describes herself as liberal. Heidi Taylor is from Phoenix, Oregon and is a sophomore at Brigham Young University-Rexburg, in Idaho. They both join us to discuss how they’re feeling about voting for the first time and what issues are most important to them as they decide on candidates and measures.

PROMO: With the election just weeks away and many Oregonians now in possession of their ballots, we check in with two college sophomores of different political perspectives. They’ll be voting for president for the first time ever, and we’ll ask how they’re feeling about Democracy, voting integrity and how they’re weighing the issues.