The midterm elections are just around the corner, and to put it bluntly, there’s a lot at stake. For anyone who has been even mildly concerned (or, in my case, horrified) by the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration, this is a chance to vote for some much-needed checks and balances.
But, as we’ve learned from previous elections, it’s not enough for Democratic politicians to simply oppose Trump’s unjust policies. To get voters riled up enough to go out and vote, they actually need to stand for something.
This midterm election is going to be an opportunity for many Democrats running for office to show Gen Z that they are paying attention to us, especially since we’ll have the highest number of eligible Gen Z voters ever. Approximately 50 million of us across the country can vote, according to data from UCLA’s Williams Institute, which surveyed nearly 1,000 members of Gen Z about the issues we care about most. And Democrats need to take note.
A staggering 68% of Gen Zers surveyed cited actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a major concern, and 67% also cited the war in Gaza as extremely important. Forty-nine percent reported discrimination protections for LGBTQ people as a priority.
Among queer respondents, concerns about ICE, Gaza and LGBTQ protections were even greater. Eighty-seven percent considered the ICE crackdown an urgent issue, while 81% said the same about the war in Gaza.
This makes sense — many of us deeply understand that queer liberation is intrinsically linked to many of these issues. The mechanisms that have allowed immigrants to become a scapegoat for the right are the same ones that are telling conservatives around the country that trans people are an existential threat to the country.
All of that is to say: It is imperative that Democratic candidates stand on business on these particular topics. Already, I’ve observed them getting cold feet and mirroring rhetoric that conservatives have been adopting to garner votes, particularly in more conservative parts of the country.
Marcy Kaptur, a Democratic representative from Ohio, ran an ad saying she thinks “boys should not play in girls’ sports.” Trans people account for less than 1% of athletes in high school sports. Democrats like Kaptur are losing credibility by focusing on an issue that Republicans have been using as anti-liberal propaganda, rather than the real issues that affect people’s everyday lives.
You would think that after the political victories of officials such as Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Abdul El-Sayed — all of whom are unwaveringly pro-Palestinian, anti-ICE and supportive of trans people — Democrats would have learned that having authentic and consistent values makes younger people want to vote for them.
When someone continues to support marginalized people even when it doesn’t seem popular, it says a lot about their integrity and their trustworthiness. This survey suggests that members of Gen Z are politically engaged, and interestingly, much more willing to vote for candidates who share their values than those who simply share their identities.
We’re no longer in an era where we vote for someone because they identify with the party we’re most comfortable with, or because they might come from the same marginalized community as us. Our candidates need to be as fervent about our rights as conservatives are about the issues that they believe in and stand behind at our expense.