Young Washington voters say cost of living is their top concern

Rising costs

Last week, Brandon Borg, 21, was topping off his tank at a 76 gas station in Everett. Gas was $3.99 a gallon — cheaper than it was earlier this summer, but it still adds up for Borg, who makes about $21 an hour as a natural-gas technician in Everett.

“When it’s a good quarter of my paycheck going out towards gas, it’s kind of ridiculous,” he said.

Borg responded to the Cascade PBS/Elway poll in September. He does a lot of driving, and says gas prices are one of his biggest concerns. So are groceries. And housing.

Borg is currently living with his parents and paying them about $350 a month for rent. He’s planning to move out soon, but worries about high costs and being able to save for the future.

“The older folks, they had it easier,” Borg said. “It’s definitely more [of a] challenge for us to try and get what they had.”

Borg said he’s really concerned about inflation, particularly when it comes to the price of basic goods like eggs. Washington has the seventh-highest average cost of living in the nation, according to Council for Community & Economic Research data.

The rate of inflation has cooled from previous highs in 2022, but basic goods are still a lot more expensive than they used to be. Wages have also gone up, but many people still feel like they’re paying more, said Hart Hodges, an economics professor at Western Washington University.

“The psychology of it matters,” Hodges said. “Nobody’s reminding us every day that our paycheck is going up a little bit, but we do get those reminders every time we go in the grocery store, every time we drive down the road.”

Inflation is complicated, Hodges said, and people sometimes overestimate how much control the governor — and even president — has over the issue.

In an email, Ferguson pointed to his record as attorney general and said he had fought to protect consumers and lower costs by suing companies engaged in unfair pricing or deceptive marketing.

Reichert has argued that repealing the state’s Climate Commitment Act by passing Initiative 2117 would bring down the cost of gas and other basic goods. Ferguson and other opponents of the initiative — and supporters of the state’s carbon auction system — have argued that it doesn’t actually guarantee lower gas prices.

I-2117 was bankrolled by millionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood. During a debate at Seattle University earlier in October, student moderator Sophia Hampton asked Heywood why young people should “vote for an initiative that significantly narrows the possibility for positive climate action.”

“Young voters are acutely aware of the high cost of living,” Hampton said. “At the same time, many of us are deeply concerned about the likelihood that we will not have a livable, let alone financially prosperous, future.”

Heywood said young people who actually care about the environment should get rid of the Climate Commitment Act and “come up with something that’s meaningful, something that actually works.”

Borg wants to go to college — it feels like a degree is required to make any sort of decent living these days, he said. But he’s worried about student loans.

“All these things are just getting so wildly expensive,” Borg said. “It’s like, ‘How are you going to get this house unless you go to college and get a six-figure-paying job?’”

Ferguson has pledged to sign an executive order eliminating the requirement for a four-year degree for most state jobs. He also plans to pay for more training programs in the trades, need-based scholarships and tuition assistance programs. Reichert has said he wants to work toward  more trade programs for health and human services jobs. 

President vs. governor election

Last week, Vlad Vasilevich, 22, was walking around the University of Washington campus wearing a Trump 2024 hat and recording videos of himself debating students for TikTok.

Asked who he was supporting for governor, the Everett resident said he wasn’t familiar with the candidates.

“I know who I’m going to vote for president,” Vasilevich said, pointing to his hat. “But governor, I’ve got to do more research.”

Still, Vasilevich said he thinks the cost of gas, groceries and housing are top issues for young people.

“We can’t save towards our future,” Vasilevich said. “And that’s very important, our future is what’s most important.”