NextGen America Launches National Back-to-School Voter Registration Campaign
Aims to register 9,000 young people across 9 battleground states
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Today, NextGen America launched its back-to-school voter registration campaign that aims to register 9,000 new and returning students on college campuses across the country. As students arrive on campus in August, either for the first time as freshmen or for the last time as seniors, NextGen America will be there to register them to vote and encourage them to make their voices heard by voting in the upcoming elections in 2019 and 2020. With over 115 staff members on the ground, NextGen America is building the team that will engage and turn out more voters between the ages of 18-35 than ever before.
Everything is on the line for young people, and we’re wasting no time getting them signed up to take on Donald Trump and his GOP enablers,” said Ben Wessel, Executive Director of NextGen America. “Taking back the White House is only part of the equation that allows us to combat the climate crisis and address America’s gun violence epidemic. To achieve progressive change, we need to flip the Senate and defeat elected officials like Joni Ernst and Thom Tillis who have proven to be more responsive to Big Oil and the NRA than their young constituents.”
Below is an abbreviated list of the campuses that NextGen America will run its back-to-school campaign on. For more details, email press@nextgenamerica.org.
- Arizona State University – Tempe, Tempe (AZ-09)
- Florida State University, Tallahassee (FL-02)
- University of South Florida, Tampa (FL-14)
- University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls (IA-01)
- Iowa State University, Ames (IA-04)
- Wingate University, Wingate (NC-09)
- University of North Carolina – Pembroke, Pembroke (NC-09)
- Dartmouth College, Hanover (NH-02)
- University of New Hampshire Durham, (NH-01)
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (PA-14)
- Temple University, Philadelphia (PA-03)
- Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond (VA-04)
- University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg (VA-01)
- University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Milwaukee (WI-04)
NextGen America will use the beginning of the school year not only to register new voters ahead of the 2020 presidential and Senate elections but also to mobilize students with important elections this fall, such as the state legislative elections in Virginia and the special election in North Carolina’s 9th District. With an initial spend of $1 million, NextGen is focused on registering 12,000 young Virginians in at least 6 House of Delegates districts and 5 State Senate districts to ultimately flip the state legislature to Democratic control this November. In NC-09, NextGen North Carolina plans to register 2,000 young voters and pledge 5,000 young people to vote for Dan McCready on September 10th.
In 2018, NextGen America ran the largest youth vote program in American history across 11 battleground states. NextGen registered over 257,000 young people to vote and reached over 7 million young people between 18 and 35 years old in person, online, through the mail, and over text. NextGen’s organizing efforts led to young people doubling their turnout, flipping the House of Representatives and winning key seats for progressives across the country.