These Gen Z voters are with Arkansas District 2 hopeful Chris Jones 

It’s humbling, but also heartening, to call into a line with a D.C. area code and be put on hold in hopes of being patched through to a Gen Z kingmaker. But Voters of Tomorrow founder Santiago Mayer is in the midst of a busy season, and schedules are tight. 

Mayer founded the progressive group in 2019 when he was only 17. Now, he leads a nationwide movement of young citizens flexing their still-developing muscles to push back on climate change, gun violence, rising prices and stagnant wages. 

Voters of Tomorrow are hustling across the country to boost a number of candidates, and Democratic District 2 congressional candidate Chris Jones is among them. The group officially endorsed Jones in the heated Central Arkansas race this week, and Mayer seemed happy to take however long was needed to talk him up. That’s because Jones has shown the same courtesy by engaging young voters and leaning in on the issues they care about, Mayer said.

“I think there has been so much energy on the ground for Chris” Mayer said. “The way he has engaged with young voters is really special.” 

It’s hard to get a good handle on what impact this race is making when you live smack-dab in the middle of it, but Mayer said that from where he sits, he can see attention and energy flowing back into Arkansas politics after a long stretch of neglect from Democrats in other parts of the country. 

“Chris has revitalized the Democratic movement in Arkansas and brought young people in to be part of his campaign,” he said.

The contrast between Jones and Republican incumbent French Hill is a stark one, and it offers an excellent example of a growing frustration among have-not voters with arguably out-of-touch politicians who simply cannot relate to the economic realities most people face. Hill recently received a $1 million campaign infusion from the cryptocurrency industry.

As chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Hill helped repeal a Biden-era protection that kept banks from burying customers with overdraft fees. That protection would be a salve for people living paycheck to paycheck, but revoking the rule means $5 billion more in annual profits for banks. That’s a nice perk for Hill personally; his 2024 financial disclosure shows Hill owns up to $5.75 million in stock in Simmons Bank, an investment that pays out tens of thousands per year in dividends. 

So cost-of-living struggles are probably not top of mind for Hill, but Jones has made it a central tenet of his campaign, Mayer said.

“Specifically with Chris, what we see is that he is very focused on the corruption and accountability young people really care about. We see the system rigged against us, our future being torn apart, while the richest one percent keep making more and more money.”

Jones’ expertise and engagement with the sticky issue of artificial intelligence is another selling point for Mayer, who reports his fellow Gen Zers worry about their job prospects as machines clock in to claim a larger share of the workforce.

Young people are voting at greater rates than they have in recent elections. Voting is up 83% over 2022 numbers for people age 18 to 24, Mayer said.

He pointed to recent polling numbers that show the race is a close one, and said he thinks Jones can pull out a win. 

“The South is very much in play, and Arkansas is a part of that,” he said.