DES MOINES, IOWA (January 6, 2020) — At the end of the 2019 calendar year, NextGen Iowa had registered 3,025 voters across the state, coming in 121 percent above the organization’s voter registration goal for 2019. The organization also collected 4,428 pledges to vote, exceeding its 2019 goal by 128 percent. These achievements are thanks to field organizers and volunteers across the state who engaged young people on college campuses, at Pride Festivals, during climate strikes, and more. Their efforts will multiply in 2020 as NextGen Iowa grows their team to include 11 new field organizers who will register and mobilize even more young voters in order to deliver progressive victories up and down the ballot.
“Those who are registered to vote early are proven to be more likely to turn out for elections,” said NextGen Iowa State Director Brit Bender. “We will see this in November 2020. When we defend our House seats, take back the Senate, and win the presidency in 2020, it will be thanks to the young people who demanded their voices be heard, and the organizers who amplified those voices.”
NextGen Iowa’s strategy of registering young voters has proven itself effective. In 2018, NextGen Iowa led a youth voter registration initiative that registered over 14,243 voters. Paired with an aggressive voter-mobilization strategy, these efforts helped elect Representatives Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer, flipping both of their districts. The organization stayed on the ground in Iowa following a successful midterm election and will continue to grow after the Iowa caucus, mobilizing young voters to kick Senator Joni Ernst and Rep Steve King out of office, hold onto the state’s three Democratic House seats, and deliver Iowa’s six electoral votes to the Democratic nominee in 2020.
