Jason Noble

jnoble2@dmreg.com

The "Pokemon Go" craze is getting political.

The Iowa arm of NextGen Climate, the advocacy group that encourages action on climate change, will hold events in Des Moines, Ames, Iowa City and Cedar Falls on Friday aimed at attracting "Pokemon Go" players to hear their voter-registration pitch.

The mobile game has become a cultural phenomenon in recent days, with players all over the country staking out public places in hopes of “catching” cartoon characters that appear within an augmented-reality version of the real world.

Its primary appeal is to people in their teens and 20s — exactly the demographic NextGen is targeting in a major voter registration drive in Iowa and other politically competitive states.

“We have been putting forth an aggressive strategy to engage young voters where they are, and "Pokemon Go" seems to be where a lot of folks are right now," NextGen Iowa state director Zack Davis said. "We’re excited to adapt and make this another tactic we’re using to engage young voters.”

NextGen will drop “lures” at specific locations in the four Iowa cities on Friday, making characters — a spokeswoman promised they would be “rare” Pokemon — available for players to catch. Its organizers, in turn, will approach those players about “the importance of being registered to vote and committing to vote for clean energy leaders this November.”

The lures will be dropped at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park at noon in Des Moines, on the Ped Mall at 5 p.m.in Iowa City, in downtown Cedar Falls at 7 p.m. and outside Parks Library at 6 p.m. on the Iowa State University campus.