The Daily Agenda: Older voters lead the way
They're turning in early ballots faster than anyone else ... Twenty-somethings lag far behind ... Spielberg is a fan of Pima County politics.
Older people vote way more than younger people. It happens every election and this year is turning into a prime example.
The most recent tally showed people age 65 and up accounted for nearly two-thirds of the 130,000 early ballots returned to Pima County officials. Voters under 35 years old, on the other hand, accounted for just 6% of those ballots.
Early ballots are still coming in and some voters will go to voting centers ahead of the election on Tuesday, so maybe we’ll see a deluge of votes come in from 20-somethings in the next few days.
In the meantime, cheers to voters over the age of 65! They understand how important each vote is in local elections.
Overall, the turnout rate stood at about 21% at the end of last week. That will probably get to 30% or 40% this week, like it typically does in local primary elections when so many offices, including the presidency, are on the ballot (turnout was 42% in the 2020 primary and 35% in the 2016 primary)
For now, here’s the age breakdown of early ballots in Pima County as of Thursday, according to Uplift Campaigns, a digital group aligned with Democrats that tracks county election data.
33% of the ballots came from voters over 75 years old
31% from ages 65 to 74
16% from ages 55 to 64
8% from ages 45 to 54
6% from ages 35 to 44
4% from ages 25 to 34
1.7% from ages 18 to 24
When you look at it in terms of numbers of voters, the Uplift data shows about 50,500 registered voters in the 18-to-24 age group. About 2,200 of them turned in their ballot so far, for a turnout rate of 4.4%.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, voters in the 75-plus age group turned in 42,200 ballots. The turnout rate for the 98,000 voters in that group was 43%.
That’s a pretty stark difference, isn’t it?
To be clear, we’re not trying to bash young voters here. They’re starting careers, raising kids, going to college, or any number of attention-absorbing activities. It also takes time to learn how elections work, how to understand what candidates are saying, or get familiar with the main issues of the day.
In fact, figuring out exactly why young people vote, or don’t, is one of the nuts we’re trying to crack here at the Tucson Agenda.
In that spirit, we asked a bunch of young people about voting and the issues that are important to them. We’ll be back tomorrow with what they had to say about cost of living, reproductive freedom, international conflicts, and much, much more.
This story was supported by the Local News Initiative of Southern Arizona, a fund of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.
Learning from young voters, and young reporters, is a key part of what we do here. Consider upgrading to a paid subscription and help us get more young people into the conversation.
Digging deep: The Tucson Sentinel’s Natalie Robbins has penned a three-part investigation into the situation at the Pima County jail, where inmates were dying at an alarming rate. Robbins spent a year digging into hundreds of pages of documents and interviewing more than 50 sources, including Sheriff Chris Nanos. Nanos and others said that while there hasn’t been an in-custody death since last September, the jail is still in disrepair and the problem “extends beyond the jail environment.”
Distinguished donors: Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw Spielberg, each donated $1,000 to Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly’s campaign, the Arizona Daily Star’s Charles Borla reports. Cázares-Kelly told Borla that she met the couple earlier this year and talked to them about her work, saying that she’s a big fan and “beyond honored” that they’d contribute to her campaign.
“Their work has brought joy to me and my family my entire life," she said.
Searching for solutions: The University of Arizona, Tucson Police Department and Center for Community Mediation and Facilitation are holding a dialogue about reducing gun violence, the Star’s Sierra Blaser reports. The event is open to community members 18 and up, who are invited to attend and learn more about gun violence, share suggestions for reducing it and hear about overall findings of the dialogue. The event is Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sentinel Building, 320 N. Commerce Park Loop.
End in sight: KVOA’s Eric Fink interviewed Pima County Attorney candidates Mike Jette and Laura Conover in advance of Tuesday’s primary election. Fink asked the candidates about the biggest issue Pima County is facing and their plan to fix it, their thoughts on the situation in the Pima County jail, the Supreme Court decision about sleeping in public spaces, abortion and more. Their full interviews are included with the story.
Back to the drawing board: A Maricopa County judge ruled last week that the phrase “unborn human being” cannot appear in a ballot initiative that would put the right to abortion in the state constitution, Arizona Public Media’s Paola Rodriguez reports. The Legislative Council is now tasked with finding a neutral term compliant with state law to instead use in the initiative. The judge said the phrase is not neutral and is “packed with emotional and partisan meaning.”
Building momentum: The vice presidential candidate for the Party of Socialism and Liberation spoke to a group of Tucson supporters last week, the Arizona Luminaria’s John Washington writes. Karina Garcia offered “scathing criticisms at the country’s dominant political parties” to a crowd of about 100 during the Wednesday event, and encouraged working-class people (“the people who do everything in this country”) to stand up for their rights.
5: The number of Tucson-area state lawmakers who ran unopposed this year. They’re guaranteed to win re-election, regardless of voter turnout.
I have never missed voting in any election, including school boards and off year elections. It has always amazed me that people don't understand that our local and state governments have more influence and control over our day-to-day lives than the federal government.