{"id":211759,"date":"2025-12-17T14:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/?p=211759"},"modified":"2026-01-23T09:39:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:39:55","slug":"beyond-turnout-what-gen-zs-social-media-reactions-reveal-about-the-2025-new-jerseys-gubernatorial-and-nycs-mayoral-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/2025\/12\/17\/beyond-turnout-what-gen-zs-social-media-reactions-reveal-about-the-2025-new-jerseys-gubernatorial-and-nycs-mayoral-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Turnout: What Gen Z\u2019s Social Media Reactions Reveal About the 2025 New Jersey\u2019s Gubernatorial and NYC\u2019s Mayoral Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This study explores Gen Z\u2019s social media reactions to two pivotal elections held on Nov. 4, the New Jersey gubernatorial election and the New York City mayoral election. Enthusiastic reactions from young voters suggest a resurgence of Democratic party momentum after the party\u2019s setback in the 2024 presidential election. Gen Z\u2019s political engagement was not passive but highly emotionally charged and expressive in how candidates framed economic and social issues.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/Gen-Z-Vote-Study-Graphic-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Highlights<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from the study include:\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Positive emotions such as joy, hope, and optimism over Democratic victories for the NJ and NYC election results dominated the emotions expressed by Gen Z.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Social justice issues including LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, representation, and economic concerns emerged as salient issues cared about by voters.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Progressive narratives centered on issues of affordability and social justice from Zohran Mamdani\u2019s campaign activated strong cognitive engagement including debates, policy interpretations and evaluation, as well as identity expression.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Comparatively, Mikie Sherrill\u2019s campaign messaging that emphasized a pragmatic and competency focus garnered widespread message amplification, which invited endorsement and trust but was less likely to engage Gen Z in deep debates.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Candidates who articulated clear actionable solutions, structural explanations, and moral stakes elicited deeper discursive participation from Gen Z than passive endorsement such as resharing or liking content.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gen Z appears to be inherently progressive in political views, and their online behaviors signaled varied levels of cognitive engagement with political campaign messages.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The decline of Gen Z\u2019s support, particularly among male voters, for the Democratic Party observed in the 2024 presidential election may reveal their frustration with messaging instead of ideological realignment.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The study was conducted by faculty members Dr. Yi Luo, Dr. Jin-A Choi, and Dr. Bond Benton, and released from the College of Communication and Media\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/stratcomm\/\">Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication<\/a>. This Center provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cGen Z\u2019s enthusiastic reactions on social media to the key election races in 2025 suggest that younger voters\u2019 responsiveness to political candidates is strongest when candidates address social justice and economic maladies through value-driven communication with concrete policy recommendations,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/profilepages\/view_profile.php?username=luoy\">Dr. Yi Luo,<\/a> Associate Professor in the College of Communication and Media.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWith Gen Z contributing to approximately 20% of the American voting population, engaging and mobilizing Gen Z is crucial for all elections moving forward,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/profilepages\/view_profile.php?username=choij\">Dr. Jin-A Choi,<\/a> Director of Data Analytics for the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication and Associate Professor of Advertising.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe connection between social media activity and voter behavior appears to be especially pronounced among Gen Z voters.\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/profilepages\/view_profile.php?username=bentonb\">Dr. Bond Benton<\/a>, professor in the College of Communication and Media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The full study, which can be found <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/01\/Gen-Z_NJ-NYC-2025-Elections_Updated.pdf\"><b>here<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Media Contact: Keith Green, greenk@montclair.edu, 973-655-3701<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>About the College of Communication and Media:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The College of Communication and Media (CCOM) offers a range of dynamic programs to a talented and diverse student population of over 2,000. Offering degrees in advertising, animation and visual effects, communication and media studies, film and television, journalism and digital media, social media and public relations, sports communication and an online, asynchronous MA devoted to strategic communication and media, the College prepares the next generation of communication and media practitioners and leaders. Founded in 2012 and housed in world-class, state-of-the-art facilities just 12 miles from New York City, the College is the only program in the country that offers the following opportunities for students: a radio station (WMSC), newspaper (The Montclarion), strategic communications agency (Hawk Communications), sports network (Red Hawk Sports Network) streaming platform (Hawk+), digital newsroom (News Lab) and studio, and a social media listening center (Joetta DiBella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication). The College also has a Student Success team, including dedicated Career Services and Advising professionals who prepare students for the internship and job search process. Student projects and programs have recently received national recognition from PRSSA\u2019s Bateman Competition, an Edward R. Murrow Award, several Marconi Award nominations, and College Television Awards (\u201cStudent Emmy\u201d awards) from the Academy of Television Arts &amp; Sciences. The College is also home to the Center for Cooperative Media, which serves the public by working to grow and strengthen local journalism and media. Through $7.1M in grants awarded over the last five years, the Center focuses on collaboration in journalism, media equity, media coaching and training, civic science and research. The Center is also home to the NJ Civic Information Consortium, the largest funder of media and journalism in\u00a0 New Jersey, granting more than $10M over the last five years to support independent local media, journalism and training initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This study explores Gen Z\u2019s social media reactions to two pivotal elections held on Nov. 4, the New Jersey gubernatorial election and the New York City mayoral election. Enthusiastic reactions from young voters suggest a resurgence of Democratic party momentum after the party\u2019s setback in the 2024 presidential election. Gen Z\u2019s political engagement was not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":211761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-communication-and-media-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211759"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211902,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211759\/revisions\/211902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}