Editor’s note: This story was reported in collaboration with The Daily Northwestern.
Evanston Township High School senior Alexa Renteria had one goal going into a candidate forum for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District hosted by the Evanston Youth Advisory Committee Friday: narrow down her top three choices for the March 17 primary election.
Renteria said she was looking for a candidate who would answer her questions directly and be respectful of others. Some of her top policy priorities include childcare, education and affordability.
Even before she was old enough to vote, Renteria engaged with local and federal elections through personal research, encouraging her peers to participate and working as a Cook County election judge to help others cast their ballots.
“I’m really trying to push, ‘Your vote really does matter,’” Renteria said. “Especially in these local elections.”
Renteria’s personal research before the primary has included meeting candidates face-to-face in ETHS’ Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics class.
For ETHS junior Tristan Bond, the course has become more than just an academic experience.
“I’m going on a field trip with my AP Government and Politics class to a voting center on March 15, where we’ll actually vote,” he said. “It’s a really exciting way to participate in the democratic process.”
YAC member, ETHS senior and District 202 Board of Education student representative Eva Hansen said that with 19 candidates vying for outgoing U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-Evanston) seat, it has been hard to settle on a single candidate.
“I’ve actually found it hard to find a candidate that I full-heartedly agree with,” Hansen said. “I think there’s a lot of candidates who have little pieces of what I like, but there’s no one who has everything that I need or want in a candidate.”
Still, there are some contenders who stand out to ETHS students.
Renteria said she appreciates State Sen. Mike Simmons’ (D-Chicago) work to outlaw book bans, make community college free and eliminate costs for low-income students attending private universities and colleges.
ETHS senior Robi Iliev said he plans to vote for Mayor Daniel Biss because Schakowsky endorsed him as her successor. Iliev added that Biss’ policies to combat Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the area make him “the most trustworthy candidate.”
For ETHS senior Corina Li-Caldwell, progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh sticks out, both for her values and enthusiasm.
Abughazaleh’s campaign reached Li-Caldwell partially through social media, she said. As a younger candidate, Abughazaleh appears to bank on support from younger voters, even appearing at an off-campus Northwestern student-run comedy show.
“We need some young, energetic people in politics and people who are willing to put up a little bit of a fight,” Li-Caldwell said.
Hansen believes that social media has played a large role in this year’s campaign cycle but noted that it is not, nor should be, “the future of politics.”
Li-Caldwell pointed to the role social media played in the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, adding that it is an effective way to reach young voters and “get them excited and engaged.”
“It’s just a new chapter and a new way to promote things politically, so I think it’s just another tool,” Li-Caldwell said. “I think social media can be used positively or negatively just like anything else, but I think it’s really great for reaching out to young voters.”
While she is too young to vote in the upcoming election, ETHS junior and YAC member Skylar Hoffman said that social media content is not the most effective medium for candidates to communicate their policy ideas due to its short-form nature.
ETHS senior Dami Adeniyi has talked with her parents, teachers and boss about voting, but has yet to decide on a candidate.
She said she is excited to exercise her right to vote after recently turning 18 in February. However, Adeniyi said that not everyone her age is as enthusiastic to head to the polls next week.
“You would think that young people would want to vote as soon as they turn 18, but I genuinely think voting’s really overlooked by people in my age group,” Adeniyi said. “I think that young people can really make a difference by voting.”
She added that if a person can vote but does not, they should not have a right to complain about the election’s outcome.
According to Adeniyi, exercising the right to vote is extremely important, especially for students who might think their vote is inconsequential. Iliev expressed similar sentiments and said voting can have a real-world impact on students’ lives.
“In this country, as someone who’s part of marginalized communities, I need to exercise my right to vote because it’s really important that I get a say in who represents me,” Iliev said.
ETHS students who are still too young to vote have also become involved in the upcoming election by attending the YAC candidate forum or discussing the election with friends.
“Even though I can’t vote, I’ve been promoting and telling all my friends who are able to vote, to vote, even if they haven’t thought about it,” Hoffman said.
