Dean Roy, 15, will appear on the ballot in November as a third-party candidate. He said his generation’s concerns, like affordability and climate change, have been ignored for too long.

Dean Roy is not eligible to vote, not even close. He cannot legally drink alcohol, and on looks alone, is at risk of being booted from an R-rated movie theater. He must drive with an adult in the passenger seat. He is, however, running for governor in his home state of Vermont — at age 15.

“The goal here,” said Dean, who sits at the edge of Generation Z and the still-inchoate Gen Alpha, “is to make enough of an impact that the leaders have to start paying attention to the youth voice.” Older Gen Z politicians have been making waves this political season, but the next wave is not far behind, raised amid political polarization and extremism, congressional gridlock and weakened public trust in institutions.

“Young people see that we cannot afford a home, we can’t start a family, our work treats us like crap, climate change is destroying our home,” said Aiden Otterman, 17, who won the Democratic primary for state representative in his rural northeastern Vermont district this month. “It’s hopeless.” Teenage politics may be unformed, but young Gen Zers and vanguard Gen Alphas have a distinct worldview after stewing on politics as entertainment.

Dean, a rising high school sophomore, avoided this month’s primaries by creating a new party, the Freedom and Unity Party. He was polling at 3 percent this summer in a University of New Hampshire survey. Gov. Phil Scott is a prohibitive favorite for re-election. Dean lives in Stowe with his parents and older brother, and works part time at their pizza shop. He had to secure 500 signatures to get on the ballot.