The District 6 Victory: Whose City? OUR CITY!

At around 2:00 A.M. on November 8th, I left the DNA Lounge and headed home, mentally and physically exhausted. I came into my apartment -- with its floor littered with campaign literature, voter guides, and a handful of green Mardi Gras beads. I sat down at my chair and exhaled. This election was a massive victory for young people in San Francisco, around California, and across the country.

The most obvious victory, of course, was the Democratic takeover of both houses of the United States Congress. Our nation shifted from a legislative branch keen on gutting education to one dedicated towards funding K-12 schools and providing financial assistance to those seeking higher education. We shifted focus from maintaining regressive tax policies to making those who benefit most from our country pay their fair share. And we’ve shifted from a government willing to see our youth die in Iraq to one that will in some way change the course.

Notable too was the participation of youth, who came out to vote in the highest numbers in twenty years. The emergence of youth as a mobilized political force could mean a change in the way that candidates and political parties engage with under-30 voters.

On the state level, the bag was mixed. Arnold Schwarzenegger predictably won in a landslide, which forces young people to hope that his wannabe moderate, pro-education mantra is anywhere close to reality. Also disappointing was the loss of Proposition 86, which would have given health insurance to over 800,000 kids who right now are on their own.

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