Former Vice President Joe Biden may have walked away from Democratic Super Tuesday races with the most victories, but Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders walked away with a big win in the state of California, in part, thanks to younger voters.
Carolyn Dewitt, president of Rock the Vote, a non-profit focused on building the political power of the younger generation, told Cheddar Wednesday that the voting bloc has been flexing their civic muscles in some localities this primary season.
"We heard stories of young people in Austin waiting two to three hours in line to vote and not having made up their mind, which shows us a real dedication to the process and making sure their voice is heard," said Dewitt.
Sanders has been pulling in a large proportion of the youth vote and Dewitt says it has to do with his ability to speak directly to the demographic.
"When candidates do invest in speaking to younger voters about issues they're passionate about, with bold visions to address those issues, young people show up," she said.
Many other states didn't see the same young-voter turnout that powerhouse California did, though and Dewitt says voter suppression is a reality in some of those areas.
"One of the realities we are facing among young voters, in particular, is since the surge of youth voting in 2018 during the midterm elections there have been several states where there has been a very concentrated effort in trying to limit and suppress the youth vote," she said.
Those efforts include voter ID laws that can currently be found in 35 states which require voters to have an acceptable form of photo identification in order to cast their ballots in person. Some of those states accept student IDs issued by colleges and universities, while other states do not.
As the Democratic Party whittles down the candidate field, DeWitt says Biden will need to focus on winning over younger voters if, indeed, he gets the nomination.
"I do think that if Biden ends up being the nominee he is going to have to do some work to court younger voters. He might do himself a favor by picking a vice-presidential candidate who will be attractive, who is going to represent young people and the real demographics of this country," she said.
DeWitt says the newest generation of voters are different than those of the past: they are more progressive and more focused on the issues, rather than signing on to a specific party line.
"Young voters are less likely to align with either party Democratic or Republican, they're really looking at redefining what political parties and what the political spectrum looks like," she said.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's lawyer says she'll sue President Donald Trump's administration to try to prevent him from firing her. Longtime Washington attorney Abbe Lowell said Tuesday that Trump “has no authority to remove” Cook. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook from the Fed's board of governors, it could erode the Fed’s political independence, which is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables the Fed to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. The Republican president said Monday he was removing Cook because of allegations she committed mortgage fraud. Cook was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022 and says she won't step down.
Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook late Wednesday said she wouldn’t leave her post after Trump on social media called on her to resign over an accusation from one his officials that she committed mortgage fraud.
Politico's Marcia Brown breaks down the MAHA draft roadmap: industry-friendly, light on regulation, heavy on research and voluntary food policy changes.
