At 20 these Coloradans represent their parties at national conventions

Reilly Jackson, 20, outside Rep. Joe Neguse's congressional office in Washington, D.C., where she interned in 2023. (Courtesy Reilly Jackson)

They are not old enough to order a Coors, but they’ve been trusted to help steer political platforms and presidential nominees: Colorado’s two major political parties both sent 20-year-old delegates to their respective conventions this summer as they look to court Gen Z support.

Weston Imer of Golden, a Republican, and Reilly Jackson of Boulder, a Democrat, were elected by party members to serve among Colorado representatives during national party conventions this year.

“If there’s a room that you can walk into, if they don’t want you there, they will tell you. I’m a big believer in taking on every opportunity I can get,” said Jackson, a junior at University of Colorado Boulder who is a delegate from Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District at the Democratic National Convention.

“It was a lot more attainable than I believed,” Jackson said. “I didn’t think I was going to become a delegate, but I thought why not run? It doesn’t hurt anything and it’s something I can put effort into.”

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Party conventions occur every four years in the lead-up to a presidential election and include delegates from every state and territory to rally around their nominee. In recent decades, party conventions have become opportunities for parties to tell their story to a national audience through primetime speakers and performances. Delegates from each state generally need to be registered voters from the respective party.

The DNC starts Monday and runs through Thursday at the United Center in Chicago. Delegates confirmed Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee during a virtual roll call Aug. 5 — that usually happens at the convention itself — in order to meet some states’ ballot deadlines, but Harris will still need to formally accept the nomination in Chicago.

The main point of business at the DNC this year will be to adopt a comprehensive party platform, allowing delegates to hash out official stances on issues like immigration, economic policy and reproductive rights. Colorado will have 87 delegates in Chicago, and Jackson will be the youngest. Six other delegates are younger than 30, according to the Colorado Democratic Party.

The Republican National Convention was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15 to 18. Delegates there officially selected former President Donald Trump as their nominee and affirmed his vice presidential pick, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.

‘You’ve got this’

Jackson gained support for her delegate campaign by going through the gauntlet of her precinct caucus, county assembly and congressional district assembly. Between emails and face-to-face conversations, she laid out who she was and what her priorities are, specifically reproductive access and equity.

She found out she was a delegate while sitting in her sorority house’s parking lot.

“The DNC process, now that I think about it, was quite simple, but the biggest thing for me was getting past that mental block of ‘Oh, you’re too young. You shouldn’t be here. You don’t know what you’re talking about,’” she said.

In actuality, she said, everyone she met was very excited that a young person was involved and seeking the delegate job. She wrote out a Post-it note that read “You’ve got this” and stuck it on her laptop for four months to look at during moments of self-doubt.

“But I still have something to say,” she said. “Just because I’m younger doesn’t mean I shouldn’t seek out these opportunities. You don’t gain experience that way.”

We're young and we're ambitious and we're passionate — and some of us do have a plethora of knowledge and experience and do know what we're talking about.

– Weston Imer, 20, an RNC delegate from Colorado

As Jackson sought the position, President Joe Biden was still in the race and was on track to become the Democratic nominee. Following skepticism among many voters about his age and cognitive ability for a second term, however, the 81-year-old stepped down and threw his support behind Harris.

Jackson said that with the change, her social circle is more energized to show up in November. That includes sharing — or even creating — the viral TikTok videos that put Harris speeches and appearances to a soundtrack of Charli XCX’s “Brat” album.

“My friends are very excited post-Kamala. They’re feeling more spoken to,” she said. “I’ve noticed my friends saying that this feels relatable. It feels silly. It feels not like the world is ending, but like there is something that is going to happen after November.”

First-time voter registrations in Colorado surged in July, when Harris took Biden’s place in the race.

She feels that the Harris campaign is intentional with meeting young people “where they’re at, and not telling them where they should be,” which she hopes will translate into increased voter registration and youth turnout.

Gen Z is ‘finally active’

Imer has been involved in Colorado Republican politics since 2016, when he was 12 years old. That year, he was a leader in the Jefferson County arm of the Trump campaign and his involvement sparked national attention .

He worked again for the Trump campaign in 2020 and helped his mother, Laurel Imer, on her campaigns for the statehouse and Congress in 2020 and 2022. Now he serves on the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council and went to Milwaukee as one of 37 delegates to the convention for Colorado’s 7th Congressional District after being tapped by the Trump campaign and then selected by the state party.

Between all that, Imer is also a board member of the Pleasant View Water and Sanitation District.

“It was one of my last bucket list items in the Trump world,” Imer said of going to the convention. “I’ve worked on the campaign. I’ve been to the inauguration. I’ve been to the White House. I’ve gone to the State of the Union. And obviously this cycle will be the first presidential election cycle I will get to vote in.”

Imer said his generation and its concerns are crucial to the health of the Republican Party.

“My generation is finally active and finally has a voice and a seat at the table to make our concerns known and to ensure that our priorities are addressed by our party and by our nominee. That was something that was lacking in years past,” he said.

That includes offering a unique perspective on the economic challenges Gen Z faces, coming into adulthood during a time when the cost of home ownership, education, groceries and gas can feel insurmountable. The Pew Research Center defines Generation Z as those born between 1997 and 2012. Like many Republicans, Imer sees the economy under Trump as having been healthier than it is under Biden.

Imer also sees a generational break in how Republicans view abortion. That is an issue the Republican Party has struggled to unify on, to appease both its base and independent voters following the Dobbs decision, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. Imer’s age cohort, he said, believes in “common sense” exceptions to abortion restrictions whereas older Republicans can be more conservative. At the RNC this year, delegates opted out of the traditional staunch anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ rights positions.

“That has a lot to do with my generation coming to the table,” he said.

While many people were “ecstatic” to see such a young person at the convention, Imer said he also experienced some pushback from older delegates.

“We’re young and we’re ambitious and we’re passionate — and some of us do have a plethora of knowledge and experience and do know what we’re talking about. Just to get discounted because of our age is frustrating,” he said.

Mobilizing young voters

Voters between the ages of 18 and 24 make up a little less than 10% of all registered voters in Colorado, according to registration statistics from the secretary of state’s office. Organizations like the progressive nonprofit New Era Colorado are focused on upping youth civic engagement.

Organizing director Arianna Morales said she isn’t surprised to see participation in party conventions this year by Jackson, Imer and other young people.

“A big shifting movement in the culture for young people was realizing that if they weren’t a part of the process, then someone else was, and that someone else maybe didn’t have young people’s best interests in mind,” she said. “Seeing them get involved in more than just the voting process, and using systems that are already there and pathways that already exist to create change is really inspiring.”

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