In an off-year election that generates ho hum enthusiasm even amongst politically aware adults, the idea of youngsters caring about legislative races seems far-fetched.

The common wisdom is that young people are, by and large, politically apathetic. If it’s hard to get a good youth turnout for a presidential election, then the chances of getting them out for state legislative races are virtually non-existent. But while many young people are too busy sending text messages to pick a candidate, campaigns also depend on young, true-believer volunteers and staffers to get out the vote.

Matt Mowers is one of those true-believers. The 18-year-old Rutgers freshman is the political director for Gerald Cardinale’s re-election campaign in the 39th district.