DENVER — On a national scale, the Democratic Party is experiencing an identity crisis.
Meanwhile, Colorado Democrats are working to combat the divide seen within the party.
“Since I was hired four months ago, we've brought our communications fully in-house. We're not using consultants anymore. We are using people that are from Colorado," said Andrew Nicla, the communications director with the Colorado Democratic Party. "Our strategy is really simple. We are showing up where young people are."
Colorado Democrats have launched a new initiative called A Stronger Colorado, which hopes to create more precinct organizers while engaging more individuals in the party.
“There are some common themes that tie all generations together right now. The biggest one is affordability. How are we going to pay for our rent? How are we going to pay for the food on our table?” Nicla said. "We are doing everything we can to not only deliver on those issues, but to bring people in so that we can find new solutions to those as we, you know, perhaps elect younger leaders.”
A panel at Harvard Kennedy School examined a change in voter trends seen during the 2024 presidential election: a surge of support from Generation Z voters for President Donald Trump. According to one of the research assistants, 2024 was the "strongest showing for a Republican presidential candidate among young voters since 2008."
Nicla said part of their push toward young voters does involve social media.
“Social media is a fantastic two-way street for us to talk to voters, for voters to talk to us, and for us to organize together," said Nicla.
Social media is where Rayna Kingston has found her niche. With thousands of followers on apps like Instagram and TikTok, Kingston is already well-known throughout the metro.
"I started [content] creating about three years ago, right after the pandemic happened, and it really came from a place of wanting to create content for businesses that I was seeing closed down. And I was hoping maybe my videos would reach people so they could stay in business," Kingston explained. “It took me forever to kind of step into the self declaration of, 'Yes, I'm an influencer.' I really just went by 'content creator' for a long time.”
Kingston — who goes by the name Rayna King on Instagram — is stepping into a new title: candidate for Colorado's House District 5 in the 2026 Democratic primary election next summer.
"I started an activist group in January after the election of last year, and it's been amazing. We grew it from 500 women to 3,000 women in less than 10 months, and we really focused on getting women involved locally, to their local nonprofits and their communities," Kingston said. “So many people have asked me, 'Rayna, did you start that to kickstart your political career?' And the answer is honestly no — I started that because there was a gap to fill, and I wanted to fill it.”
Kingston is running as a Democrat, but said she does not completely agree with the party at the moment.
"I think a big part of it is that younger generations and younger voices have been continuously left out of the conversation," Kingston explained. “We're really struggling with this idea that institutional Democrats and institutional Republicans have gotten us to where we are now, and we want something better.”
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Kingston's sentiment was echoed by students at the University of Denver (DU).
"I'd say I'm more liberal than Republican, but the Democratic Party right now is so all over the place and not very banded together, that I don't know if I would consider myself a Democrat," Yasmeen Quidwai, a freshman student, said.
Phil Chen is the associate professor of political science at DU. Chen said young voters care about politics, but do not feel represented by either party.
“There's this tendency to think, well, what young people want is TikTok videos and quick Instagram posts, and that is the way that they consume media. But I think it's wrong to assume that young people want frivolous ideas," Chen said. "It's housing affordability. It's job security. Are they going to be able to have health insurance? Can they go to the doctor when they need to go to the doctor? These are issues that affect everyone. Young people just are engaged with them in a different way, because they are in a more transient part of their lives.”
Chen added that the voting system is set up in a way that disadvantages young people.
"The way that we do voter registration is difficult. The fact that young people tend to be more transient and so have less connections to their communities, that they may have a harder time getting the correct ballot sent to the correct place, or in states that don't have mail-in voting, finding the right polling place," Chen said, listing off examples of barriers to young people voting. “So yes, we would love to see young people voting at higher rates. We'd love to see everyone voting at higher rates. But we have to recognize that it's not just a failing of young people, that it's also a failing of our electoral system.”
Young voices have worked inside of the Colorado State Capitol, like Tim Hernández who was a state representative during the 2024 legislative session. He was 26 years old at the time, and became the youngest member of the Colorado legislature and the first member of Generation Z to serve as a state lawmaker.
Denver7 asked Hernández what he believed his strengths were within the Capitol.
"Well, I don't tire very easily, and so long nights don't scare me. And prior to being a state representative, I was pretty used to being overworked and underpaid, so it was not that difficult of a transition being a state representative," Hernández said. "I think my biggest strength is I'm an organizer. I know how to talk with folks. I know how to agree to disagree. I know how to work with folks that disagree with me."
Hernández also explained the challenges he faced as a result of his age during the session.
“Young people are more progressive, right? We are more progressive on almost every issue because we live with the consequences of what establishment, older Democrats have built for us," Hernández said. "I think the biggest point of resistance that I really ran into was legitimizing the experiences of my generation to a group of people that one, don't have lived experience, and two, weren't particularly motivated to change the things that were already working for people like them.”
At this point, Hernández said the Democratic party does not represent him.
Denver7's Political Analyst Alton Dillard explained what he believes is happening within the Democratic party.
“Younger people are just seeing the dysfunction. They're seeing it at our dome here in Colorado. They're seeing it in Congress — at the time we're talking, we're in the middle of a government shutdown. I just think that they're tired of business as usual," Dillard said. “You've got to mix the new and the old. You have to have social media, but you also have to have mailers. You have to have mailers, but you also have to knock on doors and get face to face.”
Dillard believes Democrats have been too gentle with their messaging.
“One of the reasons that President Trump made inroads this past election with young Latinos and young African Americans is because there are some people who are like, 'OK, this dude's going to come out swinging. He's going to say what he means, and means what he says.' And that resonates with some people," Dillard said.
Denver7 asked Dillard what he thinks about an influencer vying for a spot in the Colorado State Capitol.
"If you're an influencer, people know your name, people know your face, and so that person may end up being a perfect bridge to be able to start bringing younger people along," Dillard said. “It's another thing to use social media as a two-way communications tool and to be able to really engage the public that way, instead of just using it like a secondary website where you just put your message out and then sit back and don't respond to the constituency.”
