Young voters show up for Kamala Harris at Wilkes rally

A lot of young, first-time voters attended Kamala Harris’ rally in Wilkes Barre on Friday and protecting reproductive rights was one of their main issues. 

Walking through the crowd at Kamala Harris’ rally in Wilkes Barre last Friday almost felt like being at a Taylor Swift concert. 

Over 4,000 people attended the rally on Wilkes University’s campus, and they were greeted on the booming speakers with songs from Beyonce, Stevie Wonder and more. 

Women wearing “Kamala” or cat-related shirts poking fun at Donald Trump and JD Vance made up a large part of the crowd, as did young college students who attended in droves.  

Most of the students were young women from the area and some of them traveled with their friends from as far away as Bloomsburg University or East Stroudsburg University. Both of those schools are part of Pennsylvania’s state university system and are about an hour drive from the rally.

For almost all these young voters, this election will be their first presidential election and fighting for reproductive rights was at the top of their minds. A recent poll conducted by NBC News found that Gen Z voters support Harris over Trump by a 50% to 34% advantage. 

Janaya Yusko, a Dallas resident, celebrates her 18th birthday the day before Election Day and attended Friday’s rally with her mother and grandfather. She shared her excitement about being able to vote in the upcoming election.   

“I am super happy that I’m able to pre-register so I can vote,” Yusko said. “I’m really excited and I’m really happy to have a part in this … My mom works in women’s health, so it’s always a blessing that I get the support that I need and that I’m able to be on birth control, get those rights that I would like.”

During her speech, Harris slammed Trump’s anti-abortion record and promised to pass legislation codifying reproductive rights after she is elected in November. 

“Let us agree, one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do,” Harris said. 

“And I’ll tell you, when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.”

Jaelynn Berry, a student at Marywood University in Scranton, shared her excitement about voting in her first presidential election. 

“I’m super excited,” Berry said. “I also think it’s super cool that there’s a woman of color running for president. As a woman of color, it’s super exciting to see someone represent where I came from.”

“I think it’s amazing that someone is really speaking up. It’s nice to hear a woman speak up about women’s rights because only a woman knows how a woman really feels. I think it’s really good.”