Ocasio-Cortez, Schiff team up to boost youth voter turnout

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are teaming up to gin up youth voter turnout, bringing together two of the Democratic Party’s biggest names to boost the party’s chances of victory in November.

Ocasio-Cortez and Schiff will host a virtual Earth Day Town Hall on Friday evening. Participants will send thousands of text messages asking friends and family to register to vote.

“By sending out thousands of texts collectively, the youth climate movement seeks to redefine organizing in the face of COVID-19 and bring new people into the community of engaged voters to make a fundamental difference in voter turnout in 2020,” said the U.S. Climate Strike Coalition, the group organizing the town hall.

The lawmakers will be joined by a list of celebrities, including Yara Shahidi and Ilyasah Shabazz, as well as philanthropist and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer.

Democrats are keen on boosting youth turnout after Hillary Clinton failed to catch fire among younger voters in 2016, contributing to her surprise defeat to President Trump. 

The effort is tapping two of the Democratic Party’s most rapidly rising stars; Ocasio-Cortez electrified the progressive base with a surprise primary victory over longtime former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) in 2018, and Schiff garnered national praise from the party faithful over his role as Democrats’ chief manager during the Senate’s impeachment trial earlier this year.