For many young people in Connecticut this election cycle is their first opportunity to vote for governor. But among those who say they plan to cast a ballot, few say they have the information they need to pick a candidate.
Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, 72, is seeking a third term against Republican state Senator Ryan Fazio, 36, of Greenwich. A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,288 likely voters, released Sept. 16, showed Lamont leading 55% to 38%. The same poll found that 45% of likely voters hadn’t heard enough about Fazio to form an opinion of him.
Young voters say the campaigns are advertising in the wrong places.
Michael Lacasse, a junior at Central Connecticut State University and a registered Democrat, said traditional methods aren’t effective at informing new voters.
“There are signs about, but really, this generation is more like a social media generation,” he said. “Democrats are kind of stuck in their ways sometimes. And I’m saying that as a Democrat.”
Leonard Ramirez, an 18-year-old freshman, agreed that campaigns should attempt to find young people on their preferred media.
“I think less, like, TV ads – a lot of people aren’t watching TV,” he said.
Shineil Gray, also an 18-year-old freshman, said most of her ads come through Spotify.
“If you’re [a candidate], you should be pushing your ads through a social media platform and talking about your policies on TikTok, on Instagram, because that’s how you get younger voters to be more inclined to vote,” she said.
Connecticut has expanded the opportunities for early voting for college students this election cycle, with polling locations at each of the four state universities in addition to UConn’s Storrs campus and Fairfield University.
In the 2024 cycle, only UConn and Fairfield hosted early voting locations.
Kayla Lembo, a senior at UConn majoring in psychology, said she has seen some outreach on social media, but it hasn’t included substantive information.
“I’m definitely not informed the way I should be,” she said. “I feel like I haven’t gotten information from pretty much anywhere if I’ve seen anything. It’s been like a commercial or like an ad on Instagram or something.”
For others the election has flown under the radar.
“I didn’t even know that voting was coming up to be honest. I feel like I should be definitely hearing about it more and I thought school would tell me more about it,” said Amanda Ross, a UConn accounting and political science major.
The Lamont and Fazio campaigns did not respond to requests for comment on how they are reaching young voters. Some younger voters said national campaigns and media have done a better job at meeting them where they are.
“I follow the New York Times and Washington Post on Instagram, so whatever they put on their Instagrams, and I also get text messages from whatever they’re doing,” said Ibrahim Koraishy, a UConn senior.
Henry St. Pierre, another senior, said he makes an effort to stay engaged.
“Honestly, I watch the debates when they’re televised on C-SPAN,” he said. “People whose opinions I agree with I’ll watch. Sam Seder is a political pundit that I follow a lot and he just gets all the information out there and then I formulate my own opinions.”
Asked what would actually win their vote, many students focused on pocketbook issues, but said the information gap isn’t helping.
Ashley Franco and Grace Thomas, both 18-year-old freshmen at CCSU, said they plan to vote, but neither has specific information on the gubernatorial candidates’ platforms.
“Paying tuition, going to school, that’s a huge thing,” Franco said. Thomas added a higher minimum wage and lower interest rates on student loans to the list.
“Affordability is a major issue for everyone,” said Robbin Smith, chair of CCSU’s political science department.
Smith said she has seen some voting information pushed out on Instagram, an effort to reach students through “avenues that students are more comfortable with and more familiar with as opposed to, here’s a paper booklet about voting.”
Alfredo Rosete, who teaches economics at CCSU, said the information is already out there if people will seek it out.
“There’s a lot of information available,” he said. “It’s kind of incumbent for you to look for. People will say they want to do it, but then will they actually go do it?”
Ronan Hinckley is a senior journalism major at Central Connecticut State University. Katie Servas is a senior journalism major at the University of Connecticut. This story is republished via CT Community News, a service of the Connecticut Student Journalism Collaborative, an organization sponsored by journalism departments at college and university campuses across the state.
