PHOENIX—All eyes were on Gen Z this weekend as more than 10,000 students gathered at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, where speakers and panels discussed the issues motivating Gen Z heading into a pivotal election year.
After making impressive inroads with young voters in the 2024 presidential election, the conservative movement is vigorously debating how to address young voters’ concerns heading into the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
From the main stage to The Daily Signal’s interviews with students in attendance, one issue rose above the rest: affordability.
Affordability is Everything
“Probably the most important economic issue of our time today is affordable housing. Gen Z is going into a housing market that is practically unaffordable,” said Gabe Guidarini, a TPUSA Action field representative. “We have to pay rent just to get by, working multiple incomes. You shouldn’t have to work multiple incomes just to rent an apartment, let alone own a house.”
Guidarini was one of several Gen Z speakers featured at a breakout session called “The Gen Z Factor,” which discussed why young voters shifted to the right in 2024 and how conservatives could make further inroads.
Adam Pennings, director of Run Gen Z, an organization dedicated to electing Gen Z leaders to local public office, also focused on affordability in the breakout session.
“Affordability is on every young person’s mind,” Pennings said.
“If you see a young person in college, I guarantee you they’re worried about if they’re going to find a job. The job market is not a great place,” Pennings said. “The housing market is not a great place. The healthcare system is not a great place and they’re very worried about that.”
Guidarini warned of the consequences if Republicans ignore the issue, “If the GOP doesn’t address (the affordability crisis), then what’s to stop socialist demagogues like Zohran Mamdani and his people from selling us a rotten bag of goods. The GOP needs to take firm stances on that and fight for young people.”
The Gen Z Focus
In the 2024 election, Republicans saw a 14-point increase in support from voters aged 18 to 29 compared to 2012, according to the New York Times.
Turning Point USA and its slain founder Charlie Kirk have received a large amount of credit for laying the groundwork for this cultural and political shift among Gen Z voters.
In the wake of Kirk’s murder, Turning Point USA has redoubled its efforts to politically and spiritually activate young people.
And students have responded to these efforts. Since Kirk’s murder on September 10, the organization has received over 140,000 student requests, bringing total involvement to more than 1 million students. Turning Point USA boasts over 3,000 active high school clubs and over 1,000 college chapters. At AmericaFest alone, Turning Point USA estimated 200 new clubs were formed.
There is an undeniable sense of urgency because Gen Z could prove to be the difference between victory and defeat in 2026 and 2028.
Students’ Affordability Concerns
Guidarini’s and Pennings’ concerns about affordability reflected the views of the Gen Z conference goers that spoke to The Daily Signal.
“Democrats have made my life worse because as a college student I am already broke enough,” said Chris, a 22-year-old college senior. “They’re already taxing the heck out of us, and I don’t think I’ll be able to live in California any more with all these stupid tax policies.”
California has the highest income tax margins in the country, ranging from 1% to 13.3% based on income.
Matthew, a 19-year-old student, told The Daily Signal he believes “having Donald Trump as President or a republican as a president is going to make (paying taxes) a lot easier.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill, the budget reconciliation package Trump signed into law in July, extended the 2017 Trump tax cuts and included provisions such as no tax on tips or overtime.
The president has recently claimed that 2026 will be the “largest tax refund season of all time.”
Beyond taxation, another major affordability concern is the price of housing, which has delayed or prevented many young Americans and their families from owning a home.
In the 1960’s roughly 35% of 30 year olds were married and owned a home. Today that number is 12%.
The Trump administration has looked to encourage home building and lower housing costs through slashing regulations and lowering energy prices.
For weeks, however, the administration has teased a larger initiative to lower housing prices, and reports suggest Trump could announce this reform effort in the coming days or weeks.