(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Voters of all age groups say the economy is one of their top factors in deciding who to choose for Washington’s next governor. But the issue appears to be top-of-mind for younger voters — specifically the cost of basic necessities.
It makes sense: Young people are new to the workforce and typically make lower wages. They have less money saved, take on more credit-card debt and are more often renters.
“It’s like you scrape by for everything,” said Xihucoatl Alvarado, 24, a Seattle resident who works as a paid canvasser for Greenpeace. “You have to live with at least one roommate to make any ends meet out here.”
People of different ages have varied concepts about what it means to be worried about the economy, said Todd Donovan, a political science professor at Western Washington University.
Older people might associate the economy with questions like “What’s my investment portfolio doing?” Donovan said. Young people, however, tend to be focused on more immediate cost of living concerns like “Where am I going to be living next year?”
“Those are two very different worlds that people are living in,” Donovan said.
Young adults interviewed for this article all gave similar answers when asked about their biggest economic stressors: housing, food and transportation.
By some metrics, Washington’s economy is booming. Unemployment is low and the state’s gross domestic product is among the highest in the nation. But the massive amount of wealth generated at the top of the ladder can also create barriers for those just starting out. The state is affordable for the “Microsoft type of people” but not most young folks, said Amelia Carey, 20, who grew up in Seattle and now attends Seattle University.
“The cost of living has increased, the ability to buy a home on one income has, by and large, evaporated,” said Grant Gutierrez, 31, a Seattle resident who does environmental justice work. “I think that’s a piece of why people are so fixated on the economy. Even if real wages are rising, adjusted for inflation and adjusted for cost of living, we don’t have as much wealth.”
Last week, on a street corner on Capitol Hill, Alvarado was trying to get people to donate to help Greenpeace fight plastics in the ocean. It was tough work.
“Every other person under 30 that we stop is like, ‘I can’t afford to do this right now,’” Alvarado said. “‘Like, ‘I don’t even have money for food or for gas right now.’”
Alvarado said he works 32 hours a week and makes a little less than $600 after taxes. With rent, food and other expenses, he’s able to save only about $100 a month.
“I’m staying with my parents right now,” added fellow Greenpeace canvasser Elio Dacanay, 21. “I’m pretty lucky they’ve been able to put a roof over my head. But if I didn’t, even on a halfway decent hourly, I’d be struggling.”
‘Costs are too high’
When registered voters were asked in a September Cascade PBS/Elway poll which issues they were most concerned about as they voted for governor, “ideology” was the most common answer for almost every age group.
The most common response for people 18-35, however, was “the economy.” Homelessness and housing was second for them, followed by the environment.
Gutierrez, a poll respondent, wasn’t surprised to hear that the economy resonated with younger people.
“You feel like you’re being dealt an unfair hand,” he said.
The candidates for Washington governor — Democrat Bob Ferguson, the current state attorney general, and Republican Dave Reichert, a former King County sheriff — have spent much of the race talking about issues like crime, homelessness, Donald Trump, abortion rights and fentanyl. When the economy comes up, it’s often through the lens of supporting small business or lowering taxes.
In general, candidates tend to speak to the demographics most likely to vote, Donovan said. That isn’t usually young people. As of Oct. 30, about 18% of registered voters under 35 had returned their ballots in Washington, compared to 56% of people over 65.
“I think people kind of count the young people’s vote out,” said Hannah Borenstein, 28, a poll respondent from Seattle. “They’re going to be surprised that people care in our generation.”
Ferguson and Reichert weren’t available for interviews for this story. It’s a busy time for the campaign, said Erik Houser, a Ferguson spokesperson.
Reichert didn’t respond to emailed questions, but has shared his perspectives in debates and on his website. In an emailed statement, Ferguson said Washington is too expensive for young adults, and that he wants to make the state more affordable.
“Costs are too high for basic necessities like housing and groceries,” Ferguson said. “We need to expand access to workforce training and apprenticeship programs that help young people transition into good-wage jobs as well as make college affordable and accessible for all who want it.”
Out of reach
Many of the young people interviewed said they were worried about ever being able to afford to own a house in Washington.
It’s like you have to be a “monopoly man to do that these days,” said Andrew Melendez, 29, a public defender in Seattle.
Washington is the nation’s fifth most unaffordable state for housing, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. To afford a median-priced home, households need to be making about $151,500. That’s out of reach for most age groups, particularly young people. The median annual salary for Washingtonians under 25 is $55,753, according to Census data. It’s $108,739 for those 25 to 44.
Ferguson has pledged to make a cabinet-level position focused on housing, and to build 200,000 units of new housing during his first term through public/private partnerships.
“When I meet with business executives, they talk about the need for housing, they’re ready to invest,” Ferguson said during a September debate, adding that he met with a restaurant owner in Central Washington who had to “scale back the hours of his restaurant because workers in that local community cannot afford housing.”
Both candidates have said they want to streamline zoning laws and speed permitting to increase housing supply and, hopefully, bring down housing costs. Ferguson is also interested in programs to support young families and essential workers with no-interest loans to assist with down payments and closing costs, and programs to support renters transitioning to home ownership.
Reichert has said he wants to use tax credits to incentivize rent relief. He also thinks fighting crime will help lower costs.
“There are so many things that intersect, not just with housing, but with the cost of everything we buy. You’ve got to go back to crime,” Reichert said during a September debate. “Businesses close, we lose jobs, the economy starts to suffer.”
Melendez is worried about young people in Washington getting priced out of the cities they grew up in.
“I think that’s damaging for a generation,” he said.
Sixty-one percent of Washington renters under 24 are spending more than the recommended 30% of their income on rent, according to 2023 Census data.
Several of the young adults interviewed for this article had a similar answer when asked what they’d like Washington’s next governor to do to make the state more affordable for young people.
“Some rent control would go a long way,” said Alvarado, the Greenpeace canvasser.
“Rent control at the state level would be great,” said Carey, the Seattle University student.
“I think what’s important is having a governor come out in support of a rent stabilization bill,” said Gutierrez, the environmental justice worker.
A bill to prohibit landlords from raising an existing tenant’s rent by more than 5% in a year failed to advance during last year’s legislative session.
In an email, Ferguson said he supports addressing housing costs through rent stabilization policies.
“I will work with all stakeholders to pass common-sense protections that safeguard renters from predatory rent increases, acknowledge the critical role of small landlords in providing affordable housing options and ensure that we do not discourage new development,” Ferguson said.
Reichert has previously said he opposes limits on rent hikes. Asked about the issue at a September debate, he said the state should make it easier to evict people who aren’t paying rent.
Rising costs
Last week, Brandon Borg, 21, was topping off his tank at a 76 gas station in Everett. Gas was $3.99 a gallon — cheaper than it was earlier this summer, but it still adds up for Borg, who makes about $21 an hour as a natural-gas technician in Everett.
“When it’s a good quarter of my paycheck going out towards gas, it’s kind of ridiculous,” he said.
Borg responded to the Cascade PBS/Elway poll in September. He does a lot of driving, and says gas prices are one of his biggest concerns. So are groceries. And housing.
Borg is currently living with his parents and paying them about $350 a month for rent. He’s planning to move out soon, but worries about high costs and being able to save for the future.
“The older folks, they had it easier,” Borg said. “It’s definitely more [of a] challenge for us to try and get what they had.”
Borg said he’s really concerned about inflation, particularly when it comes to the price of basic goods like eggs. Washington has the seventh-highest average cost of living in the nation, according to Council for Community & Economic Research data.
The rate of inflation has cooled from previous highs in 2022, but basic goods are still a lot more expensive than they used to be. Wages have also gone up, but many people still feel like they’re paying more, said Hart Hodges, an economics professor at Western Washington University.
“The psychology of it matters,” Hodges said. “Nobody’s reminding us every day that our paycheck is going up a little bit, but we do get those reminders every time we go in the grocery store, every time we drive down the road.”
Inflation is complicated, Hodges said, and people sometimes overestimate how much control the governor — and even president — has over the issue.
In an email, Ferguson pointed to his record as attorney general and said he had fought to protect consumers and lower costs by suing companies engaged in unfair pricing or deceptive marketing.
Reichert has argued that repealing the state’s Climate Commitment Act by passing Initiative 2117 would bring down the cost of gas and other basic goods. Ferguson and other opponents of the initiative — and supporters of the state’s carbon auction system — have argued that it doesn’t actually guarantee lower gas prices.
I-2117 was bankrolled by millionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood. During a debate at Seattle University earlier in October, student moderator Sophia Hampton asked Heywood why young people should “vote for an initiative that significantly narrows the possibility for positive climate action.”
“Young voters are acutely aware of the high cost of living,” Hampton said. “At the same time, many of us are deeply concerned about the likelihood that we will not have a livable, let alone financially prosperous, future.”
Heywood said young people who actually care about the environment should get rid of the Climate Commitment Act and “come up with something that’s meaningful, something that actually works.”
Borg wants to go to college — it feels like a degree is required to make any sort of decent living these days, he said. But he’s worried about student loans.
“All these things are just getting so wildly expensive,” Borg said. “It’s like, ‘How are you going to get this house unless you go to college and get a six-figure-paying job?’”
Ferguson has pledged to sign an executive order eliminating the requirement for a four-year degree for most state jobs. He also plans to pay for more training programs in the trades, need-based scholarships and tuition assistance programs. Reichert has said he wants to work toward more trade programs for health and human services jobs.
President vs. governor election
Last week, Vlad Vasilevich, 22, was walking around the University of Washington campus wearing a Trump 2024 hat and recording videos of himself debating students for TikTok.
Asked who he was supporting for governor, the Everett resident said he wasn’t familiar with the candidates.
“I know who I’m going to vote for president,” Vasilevich said, pointing to his hat. “But governor, I’ve got to do more research.”
Still, Vasilevich said he thinks the cost of gas, groceries and housing are top issues for young people.
“We can’t save towards our future,” Vasilevich said. “And that’s very important, our future is what’s most important.”
This article was first published by Cascade PBS and KNKX through the Murrow News Fellow program, managed by Washington State University.