Nevadans at the DNC: Young Democrats make waves at convention, hope to keep Harris surging to election win

CHICAGO — Long before this week’s Democratic National Convention brought thousands of delegates to the United Center, Las Vegas native Carolyn Salvador Avila was a preteen with little interest in politics.

But as Salvador Avila got older, her mom’s involvement in the Chilean American Association — a Las Vegas-based nonprofit that advocates for the Hispanic community — as well as the unique nature of being a first-generation American, gave her a taste of what politicaladvocacy could accomplish.

“Ever since I was 13, I’ve been sending the emails, doing the filings with the secretary of state, all of that,” Salvador Avila said. “I think that’s something that a lot of first-gen kids can relate to, sending emails for your mom.”

Doing something as simple as sending those emails for her mother was Salvador Avila’s introduction to community action, but it wouldn’t be her last.

The 20-year-old is the president of College Democrats of America, the national outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee with more than 100,000 university students as members. She’s also director of the Chilean American Association.

Salvador Avila was one of many speakers at the Youth Council event Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention who sought to capitalize on Vice President Kamala Harris’ surge in popularity among young voters. The meeting, which featured state Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Tenn., and a surprise appearance from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, was filled with mostly college-aged attendees from across the country.

Under Democratic National Committee bylaws, those attending the convention younger than 36 years old are deemed youth delegates. Nevada, with a U.S.-leading 17 youth delegates, is the youngest at the convention.

Tuesday’s convention theme was “Bold Vision for America’s Future,” with the programming highlighting “young advocates” speaking during a night meant to frame Democrats’ goals for the future, even past a potential Harris presidency.

The increased interest in Democrats’ attempts to court young voters has been prevalent throughout the convention — from social media influencers speaking at the main event to Ashley Biden using online lingo, “OG girl dad,” to describe her father as she introduced him Monday night. And online, memes conflating Harris’ campaign with popular summer album “brat” by pop artist Charli XCX and memes made by the campaign about one of Harris’ speeches have taken off.

The appeals seem to have worked: Where President Joe Biden had tied with former President Donald Trump among voters aged 18-29 in a New York Times-Siena poll from July, Harris has soared past Trump among young voters. A Times-Siena poll published Aug. 17 found Harris with a 21-point lead over Trump, with 53% to Trump’s 32%.

But Salvador Avila said Democrats, especially younger volunteers and campaign staff, still needed to bridge the gap between the playfulness of some of the current outreach and tangible action for the campaign.

“Sometimes I do come across some people that maybe are like, ‘Hey, I see a lot of the coconut stuff, but I’m not really getting that next step,’” Salvador Avila said. “When they hear about what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz think about certain policy issues, then it kind of helps us get that vote a little bit more solidified.”

About two hours after Biden last month announced he would not seek reelection, Salvador Avila said her College Democrats chapters across the country already began creating Youth for Harris groups.

“Making sure that people see that on their campus, specifically (Harris and Walz’s) names, are going to help us, not just make sure that we get more people involved with that campaign presidentially, but also to get people excited about the rest of the ballot,” Salvador Avila said.

Nevada delegates have also pointed out the mobility they noticed ahead of the convention and in their communities. It’s something Erica Roth, a convention delegate and Nevada Assembly candidate said that she has witnessed firsthand — citing the influx of youths as one of the driving forces for a shift of attitude and energy within the party.

“I walked into the field offices the other day for an event and there were so many new faces, young faces, college students, that I had never seen before,” Roth said.

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