In a digital push that hasn’t yet been replicated by a statewide candidate for office in Pennsylvania, gubernatorial contender Josh Shapiro is using TikTok and its complex network of content pushers and influencers to reach young voters where they are.
As experts continue to emphasize the importance of turning out Gen-Z voters born in the mid-to-late 1990s, Mr. Shapiro’s campaign is wholeheartedly buying in, hoping to activate first-time voters in his race against Republican Doug Mastriano.
Mr. Mastriano, a state senator, is running a more traditional word-of-mouth campaign at in-person stops and in interviews with mostly conservative talk shows and news stations. He has utilized Facebook, in particular, as a main form of communication with his supporters, reacting to daily news, holding lengthy live streams and advertising events.
For now, a sweep through the tailored feeds of TikTok — a wildly popular video sharing site — may elicit information straight from Mr. Shapiro’s campaign, either through his official channel or a network of influencers he’s deployed to push out his messages.
Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder said young people know what’s at stake in Pennsylvania this November and know Mr. Shapiro will fight for them. Reaching out to young voters has been intentional, he said, and their efforts on TikTok and other apps have “been able to mobilize Gen-Z voters, address the issues that matter most to them and meet them where they're at — whether online or on campus.”
It comes as experts emphasize the outsized role that Gen-Z could play in the state’s politics. The Post-Gazette reported on a study earlier this summer by the political department at Tufts University that ranked Pennsylvania as the top state where youth are poised to have a disproportionately high electoral impact in the midterm contests.
Mr. Shapiro hosted a live text bank on TikTok late last week with members of an organizing group called Gen-Z for Change, in which students sent 14,000 messages to Gen-Z voters in Pennsylvania to persuade them to register and turn out. The Shapiro campaign says it runs a 41-person network of influencers on the site who pump out their content.
Gen-Z for Change, launched in 2020 as a group backing President Joe Biden in his race against Donald Trump, boasts 1.5 million followers on TikTok.
“Thank you to Josh for consistently reaching young voters where they’re at,” read the description of a video posted to their channel, featuring influencer Connor Hessee, whose own TikTok videos have garnered more than 217 million “likes.”
The group’s officials could not be reached for comment.
Sam Schmir, the organization’s digital development coordinator, wrote about the group’s efforts earlier this year in a blog post, noting that they — among other initiatives — banded together to flood Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s tip line that was intended to target schools teaching critical race theory. Gen-Z for Change clogged the tip line with more than 100,000 emails, he said.
“By utilizing TikTok, Instagram and Twitter as our main platforms, Gen-Z for Change has shown that digital organizing is organizing,” Mr. Schmir wrote. “With the tap of a finger, we have mobilized our audience and used our power for good when it comes to reproductive rights, workers’ rights, climate justice and more.”
The Shapiro campaign’s digital push is part of its larger strategy to reach different sects of voters in ways that are most convenient for them, officials say.
The race is one of the country’s most important gubernatorial elections. If Mr. Mastriano wins, Republicans likely will hold a government trifecta, controlling the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature.
A poll released this week by USA Today and Suffolk University had Mr. Shapiro in the lead, 48% to 37%, over Mr. Mastriano.
In a Facebook livestream, Mr. Mastriano said Wednesday that the polls don’t tell the whole story and aren’t capturing the amount of grassroots energy his campaign has.
First Published: October 5, 2022, 10:40 p.m.
Updated: October 6, 2022, 10:51 a.m.
