Democrats Launch Movement to Attract Youthful Candidates to Politics

Democrats are establishing a political organization to assist and recruit Gen Z and Millennial candidates to run for office as the party attempts to focus on a segment that was crucial in the outcome of the 2018 midterm elections.

Leaders We Deserve, a drive to find Gen Z and Millennial candidates to run for state legislature and Congress, was launched on Wednesday by David Hogg, a co-founder of March For Our Lives, and Kevin Lata, Rep. Maxwell Frost’s (D-Fla.) campaign manager. 

The organization describes itself as an EMILY’s List for young people and seeks to promote 15 to 30 state legislator candidates who are 30 years of age or younger as well as congressional candidates who are 35 years of age or younger. A PAC and a super PAC will be used to coordinate the group’s operations. 

Hogg stated that the organization’s main focus will be on supporting candidates for state legislature positions in an interview with The Hill.

Hogg and Lata did not disclose the identities of the candidates the group has so far endorsed, but Lata did say that the group anticipates making its first endorsements in the following month or two. 

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Harnessing Potential: Changing State Legislatures’ Majority

According to Lata, the political organization will manage independent expenditures on the candidates’ behalf and devote its attention to guiding candidates through the electoral process.

The group has a strong emphasis on Gen Z and Millennial voters, who were essential in helping Democrats keep their majority in the Senate and barely lose their control in the House during the previous election cycle. 

Recent polling has revealed a decline in the proportion of young voters who identify as Democrats, along with an increase in the number of young voters who identify as independent or unaffiliated. This could be a danger sign for the party, which needs to win over this important voting bloc by 2024. 

Hogg and Lata, however, see promise in Millennials and Gen Z that goes beyond their importance as a voting bloc. They believe that this potential might help red state legislatures change their majority. 

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Source: www.msn.com