President-elect Joe Biden (Facebook)
By Riley Nester
The 2020 presidential election has been called in favor of Democratic candidate Joe Biden following a historic turnout of young voters, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Young voters are more likely to vote for candidates who demonstrate their willingness to tackle issues of social inequality, a report from the Alliance for Youth Action shows. The report states 83% of young Democratic voters support efforts to decrease the wealth gap through an increased income tax, while a separate survey performed by the Harvard Institute of Politics reported 70% of young voters said they believe the government should do more to reduce systemic racism.
As results trickled in on election night, Gracie Gomez, Lubbock County Democratic Party Chair, said she believes the youth vote will be critical in determining the outcome of the race.
“This election, if ever there was an election, highlights the importance of the young people’s voices, votes, and energy,” Gomez said. “It highlights the importance of knowing that your voice, your votes will make a difference. What’s happening now and what’s happening in the Supreme Court will impact your lives, your children’s lives, and your grandchildren’s lives.”
John Gibson ran as the Democratic candidate for the Texas House of Representatives District 84 seat. Though he was running as a centrist Democrat, he said, he shares some policy positions with the Democratic party’s more liberal members, namely social inequality positions popular with young voters, according to the A.Y.A. and Harvard Institute of Politics reports.
“I think that income inequality is a significant problem that we’ve got to address,” Gibson said. “Public education and health outcomes and so many other problems come from income inequality, and I want to see that addressed right off the bat.”
Gibson also believes young voters will have a significant impact on the election outcome, and he said that Democrats know they need to adopt policy positions popular with young voters in order to win races.
“My campaign, as well as I think most Democrats’ campaigns, is not focused on trying to win over those older voters,” Gibson said.
The day before Election Day, Biden took to Twitter, where he restated his advocacy for multiple social inequality positions popular with young voters, stating that civil rights, economic inequality and racial justice are all at stake in the 2020 election.
Texas election results show Biden was unable to secure the state and Gibson was unsuccessful in his run for the Texas House District 84 seat.
Though failing to win Texas, Biden is the projected winner, amassing 290 electoral college votes to President Donald Trump’s 232 at the time of publication, according to the Associated Press.
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