Zayed Kadir at his first New York State Democratic Convention held in Syracuse in February.
Courtesy of Zayed Kadir
WOODBURY — Wearing a suit and a faint mustache, Zayed Kadir, then 15 years old, stepped to the podium to address his school district officials with a simple request: that Monroe-Woodbury High School give students the day off for two Muslim holidays.
“It’s more than just a day off; it’s ensuring that Muslim students do not fall behind,” Kadir said.
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That was three years ago. This year, the district agreed to close schools for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Now 18, a few inches taller and sporting a full beard, Kadir is stepping onto much larger stages — serving as chairman of the national High School Democrats of America and as the youngest-ever member of the Democratic National Committee’s executive committee.
He accomplished all of it before he was even old enough to vote.
Kadir is among the young Democrats trying to shape the party’s future as it works to rebuild support ahead of the midterms. While Gen Z voters, especially men, have shown signs of shifting to the right, young voters still lean Democratic overall. But that support has become increasingly fragile as polls show growing frustration with both parties amid economic insecurity.
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The secret to winning them back, Kadir says, lies in the Democratic Party distancing itself from corporate donors and listening to the needs of working people.
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“When you are backed by corporations actively working against working people, it is hard to believe you are going to represent and act in favor of working people,” Kadir said.
Orange County high school senior Zayed Kadir said having access to the Democratic National Committee weighs “heavily” on him and views the position as a chance to make sure that the voices of young and working-class people are heard.
Courtesy of Zayed Kadir
Kadir said he never expected politics to become his path. In 2016, he watched presidential debates with his father and peppered him with questions.
“I was like, ‘So what do you mean Donald Trump is trying to build a literal wall between Mexico and the United States? That makes no sense. Why would you do that? ’” he recalled asking his father.
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By his freshman year of high school, Kadir still did not know what career he wanted. But he knew he wanted to improve people’s lives. Politics, he decided, was one way to do that.
Kadir said his working-class upbringing shaped his politics. Born in Queens to Bangladeshi and Tajik parents, he moved frequently with his family as they struggled to get by on his father’s rideshare driving income and his grandfather’s Walmart paycheck. Five years ago, the family moved from Paterson, N.J., to Monroe in search of more affordable rent. But the move also meant leaving behind one of the country’s largest Muslim communities for Orange County, where the Muslim population, though growing, is estimated at 7,000 people.
Searching for a sense of community, Kadir and his family became involved with the local mosque, the Monroe-Woodbury Islamic Center. There, Kadir took his first steps into advocacy by helping collect more than 300 signatures asking the school district to observe both Eid holidays.
Monroe Mayor Neil Dwyer attends the Eid al-Fitr celebration in 2023 at the Monroe-Woodbury Islamic Center. Zayed Kadir is on the left, wearing blue.
Provided by Zayed Kadir
His political involvement expanded in 2022, when he volunteered on state Sen. James Skoufis’ reelection campaign, knocking on doors, making calls and talking with voters about the issues affecting them. Kadir said the experience changed how he understood politics.
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“Orange County was showing me that, really, the world isn’t as black and white as the consultants and the pollsters will lead you to believe,” he said. “The party line is not the line people live by. People care about the issues, what’s affecting their wallet, their families … People choose what they believe is going to be best for them.”
Orange County, long dominated by Republicans at the county level, backed Donald Trump with 54% of the vote in 2024, even as voters reelected Democratic state Sen. Skoufis and Assemblyman Chris Eachus.
“(Kadir) represents young voters from around the country who desire and deserve a government that hears them and respects them. It has been a privilege partnering with him,” Skoufis told the Times Union in an emailed statement. “We need more Zayeds in the Democratic Party and public service.”
Through another Skoufis volunteer, Kadir joined the New York State High School Democrats, an organization aimed at introducing young people to Democratic politics. The group is affiliated with the national High School Democrats of America, which has more than 10,000 members nationwide.
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Kadir quickly rose through the ranks and was elected national chair last year, focusing on expanding the organization’s reach across the country. The role also earned him a seat on the Democratic National Committee, where he now serves on its 65-member executive committee alongside some of the party’s top officials.
In 2023, Monroe-Woodbury High School student Zayed Kadir petitioned his school district to give students the day off in observance of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
Courtesy of Zayed Kadir
Most days begin at 6 a.m. as Kadir balances his political responsibilities with high school coursework and helping care for his three younger siblings.
While he said he has sometimes felt underestimated, Kadir said he has tried to use his position to amplify the concerns of young and working-class Americans. At the DNC’s April meeting in New Orleans, he authored and co-sponsored resolutions condemning the influence of the pro-Israel lobby and dark money spending in Democratic primaries. He also pushed the party to reconsider its position on Gaza and formally declare the conflict a genocide.
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But Kadir said there remains resistance within the party to the kinds of changes younger members are demanding. The resolution condemning the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was struck down and the dark money resolution was “watered down” to not include the language regarding artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and corporate donors.
“There is still a large faction of the party that is funded by corporate donors, and there’s another faction that feels as if we don’t take this money, then the party is going to lose … that fears we won’t be able to compete if we don’t have this additional funding,” Kadir said. “But the view of young and working people is that if you’re taking those checks, you’re no longer fighting for us, you’re just fighting to hold power. We need people in office who are fighting for working people, for young people, not fighting for another corporate donation.”
As a result, many young people see voting as choosing between the lesser of two evils, Kadir added — “a politics that continues to ask us to choose between evil and slightly less evil is going to burn everyone out.”
The polls reflect that frustration. In 2024, youth turnout declined, with 47% of people age 18-29 voting compared to 50% in the 2020 election.
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But Kadir rejects the notion that young voters are politically apathetic. More often, he says, “it’s simply (that) they don’t know where to start.”
He also argued that Democrats have long wrongly assumed that young people will reliably lean left.
“Young people vote where they feel heard, where they feel hope,” he said, pointing to Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral campaign as an example of a candidacy that inspired young voters and gave them pride in casting a ballot. “It is hard to have hope when time and time again, it feels like the party is ineffective, is not listening. It is simply using young people as tokens for get out the vote, rather than as an active part of the political process.”
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Kadir said he encourages young people to get involved in issues they care about “because whether you like it or not, politics is going to affect you.”
He said he may run for office one day. For now, though, he is focused on graduating from Monroe-Woodbury High School. In the fall, he will attend the University at Albany, where he plans to study public policy and history. And this month, he will finally cast his first vote — in Tuesday’s school budget election.