‘Youth is where change is’: Gen Z weighs in on politics

John Russo, a 20-year-old political science major at Santiago Canyon College, is the youngest out of the three mayoral candidates for the city of Orange. If elected, he would be one of the youngest mayors in Orange County history.

Orange City Council mayoral candidate John Russo, 20, would become one of the youngest mayors in Orange County history if elected. Photo by Orion Huang

Wearing a freshly pressed navy suit, an Apple Watch and a pin with the city of Orange’s flag on his lapel, John Russo almost blends in with the other students milling around in Chapman’s on-campus Starbucks. Although he’s running for mayor of Orange, he looks exactly like a college student.

That’s because he is one.

Russo, a 20-year-old political science student at Santiago Canyon College, is the youngest out of the three mayoral candidates. If elected, he will be the one of the youngest mayors on record in Orange County.

“I have learned way more campaigning than I have in any of my classes,” Russo said.

Millennials make up the second-largest generation of eligible voters in this upcoming election. However, Russo is part of the 18-29 age group that consistently has the lowest rates of voter turnout, according to U.S. voter demographics from a 2018 Gallup study.

But Russo’s mission is to change this lack of participation from the younger generation.

“It’s important for the youth to go vote and voice their opinion,” Russo said. “If you don’t go vote, in my opinion, you don’t have the right to complain.”

Russo was motivated to run for mayor after he witnessed a “lack of responsiveness from councilmembers.”

“If you don’t get involved in politics, the decisions are left up to those who know how to play the system, those who are able to manipulate and pass their own agenda items rather than what’s best for the community,” Russo said. “A lot of people do want change, and a lot people see that the youth is where change is.”

Russo may be right – youth could be where change is. Some predict that the 2018 midterm elections will be a wave election for Democratic candidates. Some young people, including college students, are fed up with the disproportionate representation in our government.

Caitlin Guiao, a sophomore strategic and corporate communications and political science double major, is one of these students.

“We are the future, so it makes sense for younger generations to be vocal politically,” Guiao said. “The adults right now, more than likely, won’t be here in 30-40 years, but we will be. We will either be left cleaning up their messes or be working toward positive change if we are active now and do our part to be a voice.”

Guiao tweeted her followers a reminder to register to vote on Monday, Oct. 22, which was the last day to register.

“If you live in California today is the last day to register to vote! It takes less than five minutes to do and your vote absolutely matters in the upcoming midterm election Nov. 6,” Guiao tweeted, along with a link to register.

Guiao’s post on Twitter mirrors the efforts of some prominent celebrities who are using their social media platforms to encourage voter participation in the Nov. 6 election.

Popular singer and millennial Taylor Swift encouraged her 112 million Instagram followers to register to vote. In an Oct. 7 post on Instagram, the singer included a link to vote.org, a simple way to register to vote, and endorsed two Democratic senatorial candidates running in her home state, Tennessee.

“In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift wrote on Instagram.

Within 24 hours of Swift’s post, more than 65,000 people registered to vote through vote.org. Traffic on the website also increased to 155,940 unique visitors, compared with the average number of 14,708 visitors, according to CNN.

Russo had a similar message for the younger generation of voters.

“Get involved, make sure you go out and vote,” he said. “It’s really important that students and younger generations influence what they believe in.”

Some people think Russo is not old enough to run for mayor of Orange, he said, but he disagrees.

“People think I’m too young to do this, but my age is really a plus, because I have the ability to learn quickly. Really, my age is just a positive,” Russo said.