Gen Z’s political coming of age
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 November 2022
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s Election Day in America. Record-breaking voter turnout is expected, and the results could change the nation’s political landscape. Today, we look at Gen Z and how today’s election is about more than politics; it’s about shaping the future.
Read more:
Voters are finally casting their ballots in the midterm elections. In battleground states across the country, long-awaited contentious races are coming to a head as Washington prepares for a potential shift in power.
Today, eyes are turned to Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012. Gen Z is known to be outspoken and politically active — they have grown up surrounded by mass shootings, the climate crisis and threats to LGBTQ and abortion rights. Now, they’re heading to the midterm election booths. But will they vote in numbers big enough to make a difference?
Today on “Post Reports,” a roundtable discussion with three Post political reporters — Matt Brown, Carmella Boykin and Mariana Alfaro — on how Gen Z is expected to vote and what a future of Gen Z candidates could mean for the American political landscape.
You can find all of The Post’s midterm coverage here, including when your local polls close, tracking where abortion access hangs in the balance and when we can expect election results.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Because of the political climate, I think it's incumbent on everybody to get out and try |
| 0:09.8 | and vote so that our opinions can be heard. |
| 0:16.2 | Today is Election Day. |
| 0:17.9 | As Americans head out to the polls around the country, our reporters are there to talking |
| 0:23.1 | to voters like Robert Eckford in Florida. |
| 0:25.5 | You just heard. |
| 0:26.9 | And to people like Joe Ortega in Texas. |
| 0:29.7 | Me, I'm Republican, very far right conservative. |
| 0:34.5 | I just want to keep things that way. |
| 0:35.8 | I want to keep Texas red. |
| 0:36.8 | I don't want to go like California. |
| 0:38.5 | That's my main focus. |
| 0:40.9 | That's my main focus. |
| 0:41.9 | So I'm getting out and doing my part and putting my voting. |
| 0:45.3 | In Arizona, 38-year-old Chris Rue voted for Democrats. |
| 0:49.6 | But she was not excited about anyone on the ballot. |
| 0:52.4 | She wishes that there were more options. |
| 0:54.2 | We're stuck in a two-party system because nobody other than the two candidates at the |
| 1:00.1 | top can ever win. |
| 1:02.8 | In DeCab County, Georgia, 68-year-old retired accountant Billy Andre so that this election |
| 1:08.4 | has important races up and down the ballot. |
| 1:11.2 | You got the balance of the Senate as thick as time, whether or not it would be Democratic |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.