Don't believe the narrative that Gen Z will vote Biden. My generation is up for grabs.

The great irony about being a Gen Z voter is that everybody agrees we'll likely be the decisive vote in the 2024 presidential election, but both political parties are taking us for granted.

Democrats think they have our vote locked up, and Republicans don’t even want to speak to the issues my generation is most passionate about.

While Generation Z – born between 1997 and 2012 – has widely been viewed as a new bedrock for Democrats to rely on in election season, they should not count on Gen Z showing up this election, and Republicans should look at my generation as an opportunity for their political future.

Will Gen Z continue to vote Democrat?

In a recent Harvard poll of 18- to 29-year-olds, only 49% said they “definitely" will be voting in 2024, a drop from the contentious 2020 election in which more than 50% of Americans under 30 voted for president.

While the poll reaffirms the Democrats' advantage among the youth vote, with 41% of that population saying they'll vote for Joe Biden and only 30% for Donald Trump, the lack of enthusiasm for this election cycle could spell trouble for Democrats.

Biden or Trump? Biden is too old. And so is Trump. As a Gen Z voter, I want younger candidates.

In 2020 young people were invigorated by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial tension following the death of George Floyd. Coupled with the economic decline stemming from pandemic shutdowns, Gen Z voters had little incentive to give Trump another four years.

Democrats still are in the advantage when it comes to key issues for Gen Z. Abortion, climate change and gun violence are in the top five for most important issues across my generation, according to Tufts polling.

Abortion in particular is a massive issue for Gen Z, and one that they favor Democrats on heavily: 70% of voters under 30 support no restrictions on abortion.

Despite Biden’s low approval rating, this stance is widely credited with Democrats’ good midterm elections performance, particularly in states with abortion referendums on the ballot.

Republicans still don't care about young voters

Despite Democrats’ advantage on social issues, Republicans do have some opportunity in front of them, particularly on the No. 1 issue for Gen Z. Almost 40% in the Tufts poll listed inflation and gas prices as their top concern.

As much as the pundit class wants to claim the economy is fully recovered, Gen Z doesn’t seem to agree. In Bank of America’s annual Better Money Habits survey, nearly three-quarters of Gen Z say they’ve changed spending habits in response to inflation, and just 24% believe that the economy will improve over the next year.

I'm an atheist and a conservative: My politics is informed by skepticism, not faith.

In the Harvard poll, Trump holds a 15-point advantage when it comes to Gen Z trust on the economy as a whole, and Republicans ought to press their advantage.

With Trump, his personality was always unfavorable among the broad voting population, but that could be excused by his handling of the economy, which 63% of Americans approved of immediately before COVID-19 struck.

However, the GOP has entirely neglected speaking to Gen Z about social issues that Democrats pose a large advantage on, and this is something that needs to change. Even if we cannot compete with the empty promise of $20,000 of debt forgiveness, we must confront these social issues in order to provide some alternative to Democrats.

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The Gen Z vote might be up for grabs, if anybody will listen

The GOP will need more to sway young voters and take advantage of an opportunity Democrats have provided. The economic future of our country is an issue in which Republicans hold an advantage, and they would be wise to press it, but it alone cannot turn the tides as we saw in the 2022 midterms.

Another view: Ignore the polling panic. Why I'm confident Gen Z will elect Joe Biden again.

Young people are less enthusiastic about Biden than they were in 2020, and the economic pain they have suffered is a big part of that. Large numbers sitting out, or even a decent chunk defecting to the GOP, would be excellent for Republicans’ chances of retaking the White House and Senate.

If Democrats have any interest in winning 2024, that means appealing to young voters, not pushing them away on such controversies as the Israel-Hamas war. The White House will be decided in part by whether Gen Z thinks voting matters, and both sides would be wise to listen to our voice.

Dace Potas is an Opinion fellow for USA TODAY. A graduate from DePaul University with a degree in political science, he's also president of the Lone Conservative, the largest conservative student-run publication in the country.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gen Z could decide 2024 election. So why are we being ignored?