Almost two weeks removed from Nov. 8, I have taken the time to collect my thoughts on the outcomes of the many elections that took place. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I remember the days leading up to the Midterm elections I was wrecked with anxiety. Everyone kept saying this was the most important election of our lifetime (just like the 2020 election was, and just like the 2024 election will be) and that there would be a massive red wave of Republican victories. Such was not the case, as the Democrats managed to hold onto the Senate, and narrowly lost majority control of the House of Representatives by a few votes. For a midterm election, the party in control of the White House doing so well is exceptionally rare, especially when the economy is not good.

Nevertheless, the biggest takeaway from the midterm elections, in my opinion, is that our generation prevented the red wave. Generation Z (born between 2001 and 2020) voted in favor of Democrats by 63 percent, the only generation to vote in favor of Democrats by over 50 percent. While conservatives have been trying to figure out why young voters seem so turned off by their party, I think that they are failing to understand that what seems like important issues to them are not important to us, and vice versa. When it comes to issues like gun control, climate change, access to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, the Republican party is so not on the same page as Gen. Z. If Republicans want any hope of winning the 2024 presidential election, they need to appeal to young voters, and sitting back and doing nothing while more school shootings happen and the environment gets worse is not going to help.

My final message to our generation is this: we showed everyone that, when we vote, we do make a difference, and now that we have proven that, maybe people will finally start to listen. Florida’s 10th district has even elected the first ever Gen. Z congressman, Maxwell Frost. To all my fellow Gen. Z’ers, we are not just the future. We are the “now.”