If the nation’s young voters show up Nov. 5, they could be game changers in the General Election, according to Michael Bitzer, the Leonard Chair of Political Science and professor of politics and history at Catawba College.

Bitzer, who holds forth regularly on North Carolina politics at the website Old North State Politics, said students often complain that politicians and others aren’t addressing their concerns, which includes such issues as housing affordability, student loan debt and other challenges that 18–22-year-olds face.

The political apathy, Bitzer said, tends to follow them into full adulthood.

“I think what the normal pattern that political science knows is that as you age into your life cycle, you do become more engaged, you do understand the dynamics, you do see the importance of showing up to things like voting,” Bitzer said. “The millennials, however, aren’t necessarily tracking the same dynamic as we’ve seen in previous generations, so those voter turnout rates where those millennials who are now into adulthood, who are now establishing families, now have what we think of as secure jobs and employment, they’re still not showing up necessarily, at least not in this state at the rates that they should be.”

Bitzer made his remarks Friday on the final day of the North Carolina Affordable Housing Conference held at the Raleigh Convention Center. The conference brought together more than 1,300 housing advocates, developers, bankers and others in the housing industry to discuss challenges of producing affordable housing and to celebrate successes.

The disturbing trend of young voters sitting out elections could change with Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket, Bitzer said.

“We’re seeing enthusiasm and [an increased] energy level and basically a realignment of youth vote back to what we normally expect, but we’ll just have to wait and see how November 5 comes along,” Bitzer said.

He shared charts showing that 62% of registered millennials voted in the 2020 election and 61% of Gen Z voters. Those number dipped dramatically in the 2022 mid-term elections when just 35% of millennials and 24% of Gen Z voters went to the polls.

“If you take both Gen Z and millennials as percentage of the voter registration pool, that’s a plurality right there,” Bitzer said. “But, getting them to be invested and to recognize what they can do, I think is a continuing struggle.”

Bitzer told conference attendees that he expects another tight election in North Carolina, which former President Donald Trump won in 2020 by about 75,000 votes.

He said 97% of the state’s voters are evenly divided between voting for candidates of one of the major parties with a 3% set of potential swing voters.

“So little movements within North Carolina’s electorate can have huge effects,” Bitzer said. “All politics ain’t local in all deference to former Speaker Tip O’Neill.”