The following media release was shared with Latino Rebels on Monday:
TEXAS — Young voters across the Lone Star State made a significant impact this midterm election. Millennials are now the largest and most influential voting bloc in Texas. By 2022, one in three voters will be under the age of 30, collectively creating the most powerful and diverse electorate in the state.
“In Texas, we dream big, because we are big and we are determined to chart a new future for our country and state. Our youth hold the power in their hands to not only change the politics of Texas, but the country. Now we are gearing up for what’s next, and are ready to turn up the heat on legislators that don’t represent our diverse communities needs by 2020,” Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez founder and Executive Director of Jolt Initiative.
Today, Texans ages 18 to 30 are a diverse population: 43 percent are Latino, 13 percent are African American and 4 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander. Over the next decade, nearly two million Texas Latinos will turn 18, 95 percent of who will be U.S. citizens, which will account for 78% of all new Latino voters in the state.
“Young voters in Texas proved during the recent midterms that they will no longer sit on the sidelines, and their impact was felt up and down the ballot. Texas Rising has worked to make this a reality. registering and turning out tens of thousands of voters under 30. With the anticipated growth of this powerful voting bloc, we intend to make sure every young Texan possible registers to vote and makes it to the polls. Going forward, politicians who ignore this rising, progressive and very diverse generation of Texans do so at their own peril,” Rae Martinez, outreach and field manager for Texas Rising, the Texas Freedom Network’s program for young Texans.
The Texas Youth Power Alliance (TYPA) seeks to support hundreds of thousands of young people to consolidate their power electorally through a robust voter registration campaign that will bring 300,000 young people into the democratic process and turn them out to vote in 2020. In 2018, TYPA registered nearly one in five new Texas voters, bringing 66,000 Texans into the democratic process.
“We know that to drive our vision for Texas’ future, we have to build electoral power. We know that to win on our issues, we have to build the capacity of our movement to elect officials who will co-conspire with us to make our vision a reality, and we are mobilizing the thousands of youth who will use their voices and votes to get those leaders in office and keep them there.” Kandace Vallejo, Founding Executive Director for Youth Rise Texas, said.
The country and Texas are experiencing a new wave of civic engagement from young people. Our youth are marching for gun control, immigrant rights, and racial equality. However, for young people to achieve the change they seek, they must also consolidate their power at the voting booth.
“This election was a historic moment for young voters across Texas. Just in early voting, young people increased our turnout by nearly 500 percent compared to 2014,” said MOVE Texas Executive Director H. Drew Galloway. “Together with the Texas Youth Power Alliance, our organizers, volunteers, and student members are as dedicated as ever to expanding voting rights and access to the ballot for our generation.”
Texas Youth Power Alliance is a collaboration of the state’s largest youth civic engagement organizations with operations and chapters across Texas, including Jolt Initiative, Texas Rising (a project of Texas Freedom Network Education Fund), MOVE Texas, and Youth Rise Texas with the shared purpose of harnessing the full power of young people of color in Texas to transform the state.