BETHLEHEM, Pa. - If you accepted a call from a political canvasser during Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, it’s possible you spoke to Aidan Levinson.
Never mind that Levinson, born in July 2001, was just 11 years old at the time.
“Well, my story goes that my mom somehow came home one day and I was making phone calls at the table,” said Levinson, a Zionsville native. “I don’t really remember that.”
- Young political servants in the Lehigh Valley are working to draw more Gen Zers into politics, and to the polls
- They're serving the interests of their country in the political field, but they’re doing it behind the scenes instead of in a public-facing role
- It comes as younger people seem less inclined to get involved in local government amid a toxic political environment
But Levinson was certainly not your typical pre-teen at the time. By the next election cycle he still couldn’t vote (though he wanted to) but was already well on his way to de facto rock star status as a young changemaker in local politics.
Fast forward to present day, and Levinson’s resume boasts the kind of experience one might expect from a political up-and-comer ready to emerge on a bigger stage. He’s a senior advisor to the Lehigh County Democratic Committee, an elected member of the PA Democratic State Committee, was a legislative intern for U.S. Rep. Susan Wild and recently spent time abroad as a campaign intern for The Labour Party in the United Kingdom.
Levinson has also been a federal policy intern for a company called TechNet, a strategist and technology manager for Advantage Political Strategies and a fall intern managing political tracking for a public relations firm based in Los Angeles — all of this while a full-time college student at American University, driving what he
hopes is positive change while encouraging the younger generation to exercise its civic power.
But while he may seem like a political version of “The Natural,” young Mr. Levinson does not want to go to Washington. At least not as an elected public official.
At home behind-the-scenes
LehighValleyNews.com reached out to several of Levinson’s Republican counterparts for this story, but none were available for comment before the election. Robert Arena is on hiatus from Muhlenberg College and serves as the Republican National Committee’s Pennsylvania data director. One of his classmates, Billy Moore, recently graduated and is the political director for the Lisa Scheller for Congress campaign. And 24-year-old Andres Weller, an Emmaus resident, is the regional political director for Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.
What all of them have in common is falling inside that 18-25 age group – and wanting to draw more Gen Zers into politics, and to the polls. But in serving the interests of their country in the political field, they’re doing it behind the scenes instead of in a public-facing role.
For Levinson, the choice came down to seeing how local and state governments are the most impactful and have the most tangible effect on our lives.
“My involvement came from meeting people who kind of led volunteer efforts, and kept me involved through local races,” Levinson said. “But what kept me there was seeing the local races that are a little lower in temperature that actually impact a lot more understanding of how it all works.”
He believes part of the disconnect with young people is their lack of connection to the local political structure, and being able to meet and talk with people on the local level “and make changes that you can see instantly.” He finds satisfaction from the relevance his work has to Pennsylvanians’ daily lives, if it means inspiring more of them to exercise their civic power.
“What I think we're missing right now is communication with young people about how things actually work,” Levinson said. “And I think that made it more appealing to me, because I'm someone who loves to know how things work, break that down and be a little more of a behind-the-scenes guy. And I think strategy – especially a technology strategy – was missing on the local level, and I really found my niche there.”
"My involvement came from meeting people who kind of led volunteer efforts, and kept me involved through local races. But what kept me there was seeing the local races that are a little lower in temperature that actually impact a lot more understanding of how it all works."Aidan Levinson
Getting young people to engage
TargetEarly, an online tracker for Democratic political data from data services firm TargetSmart, reports that tens of thousands of young voters across Pennsylvania voted early this year when compared to the 2018 midterm elections.
As of Nov. 6, their data projects that more than 80,000 Pennsylvanians ages 18-to-29 voted early in this year’s midterm elections. Only about 28,500 did so in 2018.
CNN also reports the youngest voters – those ages 18-21 – showed up early in higher numbers across six key states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) compared to this point during the 2018 general election.
Does it mean the work Levinson and others are putting in on youth engagement is making a difference?
The answer is probably as clear as the mud that Democrats and Republicans have been slinging at each other for years – more recently through endless television commercials and online ads.
Levinson realizes that younger people these days not only seem less inclined to get involved in local government amid a toxic political environment, but that it appears to discourage voter participation. It’s even more of a muddled picture when mail-in voting doesn’t count over mistakes like forgetting a signature or putting down the wrong date on the paperwork.
Unfortunately, Levinson doesn’t see things changing anytime soon.
“As a strategist, I’m a little pessimistic that [the divisiveness] is going to continue for a long time,” he said. “But in terms of hope, I’m very involved with the Sine Institute of Policy & Politics, and a few weeks ago we released a nationwide poll that we commissioned of over 3,000 18-to-35 year olds. It showed that even though people my age are dissatisfied right now, there is hope that with our vote, we can make a change in the future towards a better democracy.”
For Levinson, that includes making sure he’s reaching voters at the local levels and dialing in on different messaging.
“However nasty campaigns are, the individual relationships I think are a lot more calm,” he said. “Some of them are nasty, and they get caught up in rhetoric, but I think, on the base level, you can still have good conversations with people and level-headed conversations with people that can really make a difference.”
