Without a doubt, the results from last Tuesday were hard to take. We know all too well that the 114th Congress can have a big effect on young people’s sexual health and rights, as well as on their rights to have children. But there were some bright spots that we should remember as we look ahead. This week, the following things happened:
What’s Good:
Most ballot measures that were important to young people went in the right direction. For example, voters in Washington passed stricter background checks for buying guns, an equal rights amendment in Oregon, a reduction in some criminal penalties in California, paid sick leave laws in Massachusetts and several towns in New Jersey, decriminalisation of marijuana in Oregon, Alaska, Guam, and DC, and minimum wage increases in South Dakota, Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois, San Francisco, and Oak.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a leader on sexual health issues who has sponsored important laws on abortion access and birth control, ran a successful campaign on a platform of reproductive rights. This made Scott Brown the first man to lose a Senate race to two women in two different states.
Many of the House members who fought for progressivism were re-elected. Check out this interview with Barbara Lee, one of our sex ed advocates, on the Colbert Report (skip to 6:24, where they talk about comprehensive sex ed!). It will make your day.
Tom Wolf beat Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who had a terrible record on reproductive health issues, at the state level.
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Not Good:
Voters in Tennessee added a stupid amendment to their state constitution about abortion, and voters in Georgia voted to cap the state income tax at 6%, which could mean big cuts to their social programmes in the future.
Aside from Sen. Shaheen in New Hampshire and possibly Sen. Mark Warner in Virginia (where he is currently in the lead), progressives and moderates lost seats in the most competitive races, including Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Kay Hagan in North Carolina, and Mark Udall in Colorado. Progressives also failed to get rid of conservative Senators who were already in office in a few key states, like Kentucky, or win open seats in Georgia or Iowa that were considered to be close races.
Both Maryland and Massachusetts, which are seen as having strong liberal bases, chose Republican governors.
In two states, we are waiting for results: Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has a tough runoff election on December 6, and even though all of the precincts have reported, Mark Begich (D-AK) hasn’t given up on Dan Sullivan (R-AK) yet.
The Bad:
Even though places like North Carolina and Missouri had record numbers of voters, the turnout was one of the lowest in recent history as a whole.
Even though most progressive ballot measures passed at the state and local level, most of the people who voted did so for conservatives. This shows that voters are getting frustrated with the lack of strong progressive candidates.
Both houses of Congress will be run by Republicans, and the Republicans in the House will have their largest majority in more than 60 years. This lets extreme conservatives hold Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to his campaign promises and push for harsh rules on abortion, immigration, and Obamacare.
What’s next?
Even though most of the news from Tuesday was bad, there are still some good things to take away:
Even though overall fewer young people voted, when they did, progressive issues did really well. Young people and women of colour went to the polls in larger numbers than they did in 2010. They also voted for candidates who supported reproductive health, which may have kept races closer than they would have been otherwise. In 2016, progressive candidates will still care a lot about what young people have to say.
There has never been a better time to talk about abortion, birth control, and other reproductive justice issues in a different way. Instead of letting the conversation drift to the right, let’s start a new one to get people thinking again about what strong communities look like, with policies that let every young person make healthy choices.
We need to keep pushing the Obama Administration to make real changes for young people in its last two years in office.