Democratic PAC Targeting Persuadable Young Voters Invests Big Across Swing States

A relatively new Democratic PAC has launched a $5 million campaign targeting Gen Z voters across several states with competitive presidential and U.S. Senate contests.

Forward Blue PAC, founded last spring by a former outreach director for Sen. John Fetterman’s 2022 campaign in Pennsylvania, is hoping to reach voters ages 18 to 24 in Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The investment focuses on spaces outside of traditional cable media, including social media apps like Snapchat and dating apps like Bumble, with ads touching on reproductive freedom and bringing down the cost of living.

Three of those states — Maryland, Montana and Ohio — only have competitive U.S. Senate races, while Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are toss-ups in the presidential election. Maryland, one of the bluest states, has a competitive race for an open seat in the upper chamber, while endangered incumbent Democrats in Montana and Ohio are defending seats in those red states.

Forward Blue PAC’s investment is the latest example of youth-focused groups ramping up their spending and mobilization in the 2024 election since President Joe Biden passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. Voters of Tomorrow, the largest Gen Z-run outreach group, also announced a major engagement milestone earlier this month.

A new poll from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics demonstrated just how dramatically Harris’ candidacy has shifted the race in Democrats’ favor among voters who may be casting ballots for the first time. The survey released last Tuesday showed Harris with a 31-point lead over Trump with likely voters 18 to 29, compared to Biden’s 13-point lead over the former president in March.

Gen Z represents a massive new voting