CINCINNATI (WCMH) — An internet personality with 767,000 YouTube followers is teaming up with dozens of other streamers and hundreds of volunteers in an effort to reach young voters, starting with a trip to Ohio.

Progressive Victory — an online community of activists, content creators and volunteers — is holding a canvassing event in Cincinnati. From Friday to Sunday, 29 streamers and 300 volunteer canvassers will be joined by elected officials for a “listening canvass” event that will coordinate conversations with young and disaffected voters.

One of the streamers is Steven “Destiny” Bonnell II, a prominent figure in internet livestreaming and political discourse.

“[Progressive Victory’s] goal is to try to help online influencers kind of funnel their audiences into more effective on the ground political action,” Bonnell said.

Bonnell pioneered livestreaming on platforms like Twitch as a forum for political discourse. On his YouTube channel, he attempts to challenge both sides of the political spectrum.

“I feel like there is a huge market for influencers in general to mobilize audiences in ways that they haven’t been mobilized before,” Bonnell said.

Progressive Victory is a coalition of activists, content creators and volunteers encouraging young voters to participate in politics. (Courtesy Photo/Samuel Drzymala)

While many campaigns may struggle to get more than 20 people for an event, Bonnell said streamers can easily produce hundreds. The internet is filled with young people who have energy and excitement for politics, he said, even if online advocacy can often degenerate into arguing.

“Usually, it’s just fighting with each other online,” Bonnell said. “I think that the goal of canvassing or on-the-ground political stuff is to show people that if you’ve got a lot of energy, you can get active on the ground and you can actually do stuff to hopefully make meaningful, effective change.”

Bonnell identified three reasons young people may not vote. First, they can get busy and maybe haven’t developed the habit of regularly voting. Second, they spend a lot of their political energy on online advocacy and exhaust themselves from actual political participation. Finally, many political commentators tell them voting is a waste.

“If you’re a young person, the most important thing you can do at the end of the day is vote,” Bonnell said. “If you don’t vote, literally nothing else you do matters.”

At least one elected official is joining the listening canvass. State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) said he signed on because he is an “organizer at heart” interested in bringing young people out to vote.

“I try to jump at every opportunity to engage young people more in civic participation in the electoral process,” Isaacsohn said.

The Progressive Victory listening canvass is a way to build a relationship with voters, as well as trust, Isaacsohn said. He said building relationships early will pay dividends in November.

Isaacsohn pointed to recent elections to say young people are voting more than they’re given credit for. But he said that Ohio’s youth vote is declining.

“The 2024 election matters most to young people,” Isaacsohn said. “They have the most at stake, not just with who wins the presidency, but the balance of the Senate, how we do in state legislative races, municipal races, it is critical. And frankly, I’m excited to engage with the portion of the electorate that has the most to gain and the most to lose with what happens in 2024.”

Although Isaacsohn was the only politician confirmed to be attending as of Thursday, Progressive Victory expected more may come.