November 17, 2024
Pedro Rodriguez
Despite spending years pushing social justice movements, the Democratic Party should’ve focused on addressing inflation.
Even before she was the presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at Florida International University in October 2023, slamming efforts to promote merit and scholarship on campus over so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
In 2024, the Florida Democratic Party spent the electoral cycle pushing for abortion, marijuana, progressive politics, and Harris’ administration.
Compared to previous elections, young voters rejected the Democrats’ message. CNN exit polling shows 60% of 18-29-year-olds in Florida went for Biden in 2020, but just 53% opted for Harris in 2024.
The Democrats’ social engineering simply wasn’t their priority. The economy was.
The College Fix noted that almost half of young voters named “the economy” a “top priority.”
Polling results from the James Madison Institute (JMI) revealed that 48% of likely voters in Florida perceive inflation as a “very serious” issue.
In its 2016 Blueprint Florida policy paper, JMI mentioned that the American dream is “on trial every day,” and that “Florida’s ceaseless pushback against Leftism results in economic prosperity and growth unlike anything ever seen.”
November 2024 proved them right, and the signs have been there on campuses across Florida if anyone took the time to notice.
At the University of Florida, Campus Reform reported that the Change Party, the student government party most aligned to old DEI principles, has repeatedly lost its grip on the school’s student government over the years.
At Florida Gulf Coast University, diversity of thought has been promoted continuously since the state cracked down on DEI in 2023.
The same thing happened at the University of South Florida, where multiple pro-Palestine students were arrested and even deported for breaking the law.
Students at Ave Maria University pushed back against the abortion initiative that was on November’s ballot.
Similarly, the University of Miami launched a program to promote civic discourse and prevent a political divide on campus.
When it came to the economy, Harris vowed to change nothing from Biden’s economic policies, and Florida’s young voters clearly remembered that at the ballot box. Early voting statistics from FSU’s Student Union in 2024 reported that Democrats only held a lead of 17 points compared to their 30-point lead in 2020.
Across the country, Gen Z voters’ support of Trump and the GOP across the country jumped from 36% to 42%, contributing significantly to Trump’s victory. And they weren’t wrong.
It’s no secret that young voters tend to skew Democratic compared to older ones. But this November, young Floridians showed the Democratic Party that they will not settle for a disastrous economy and far-left social movements.
