The future of American politics? Bradenton millennial activists debate cultural issues
It was an all-millennial panel of community activists, between the ages of 30 and 38, who appeared before the Manatee Tiger Bay Club to share their thoughts on social trends and politics.
The panel, an ethnically diverse group of men and women, left no doubt Thursday that their generation has plenty of passion and opinions.
While some of the answers panel members gave were long, Xtavia Bailey, president of Manatee Tiger Bay Club, who served as panel moderator, drew the sharpest distinctions when she asked for yes or no answers.
▪ Question: Do you support the ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy that Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed into law:
Answers:
Nathan Knight, president, Manatee County Young Republicans: yes
Marcus Davenport, right-wing progressive: yes
Grace Reeves, attorney, no party affiliation: yes
Cesar “CJ” Garcia, president, Bold Voters: no
Evelyn Almodóvar, president, Democratic Party of Manatee County: no
▪ Question: Do you support the removal of unapproved books from local school shelves?
Knight: yes
Davenport: yes
Reeves: no
Garcia: no
Almodóvar: no
▪ Question: Is health care a right?
Knight: no
Davenport: no
Reeves: yes
Garcia: yes
Almodóvar: yes
Young voters ‘hopeful’ and ‘optimistic’
Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996, while members of Generation Z were born between 1997 and 2013.
What both generations want are solutions to the affordable housing crisis, crushing college debt and the environment, which is a quality of life and an economic issue, Almodóvar, 38, said.
“I am very hopeful about this generation coming. I am very optimistic about the future of politics,” Almodóvar said.
Garcia, 30, said he believes strongly in the promise of the American dream, as his father came to the United States from Guatemala and raised four children here.
“We the people have the power of the polls,” he said. “The great American experiment only works if we’re engaged.”
Knight, 37, said that the major issues facing Manatee County are nonpartisan.
“They are not Republican or Democrat. They are facing all of us,” Knight said.
Overall, the panel agreed that the Constitution is a living document and that the founders provided a way for it to be amended.
Davenport, 35, disagreed.
“The left believes that they can vote away your rights,” he said, contending that founders intended for the Constitution to be difficult to change.
Garcia argued that amendments to the Constitution established rights that everyone now takes for granted, including the right to vote, regardless of race or gender.
“I believe in limited government,” Garcia said. “Stay out of my bedroom. Politics and governing are two different things. OK, you won your race and now get to work,” he said.
Corporate advocacy
Bailey asked whether corporations should take a stand on cultural issues, referring most recently to Budweiser’s marketing collaboration with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.
Reeves answered that a corporation has the right to say what it wants, and that consumers have the right to support who they want.
“To me, I don’t care what a company says,” said Reeves, 33.
Davenport cautioned that some pensions are tied to the market and corporate statements could have repercussions.
“If there is blowback, there is blowback,” he said.
The next generation
Asked if they believed that America would have a better political future if more young people were engaged, panel members agreed that would be a good thing.
“We have to engage youth in decisions of leadership. What are their goals and aspirations? We need to empower them, not just use them,” Almodóvar said.
Davenport said he hopes more young people get involved and get informed about issues.
Knight said that Manatee County Young Republicans are all about recruiting youth for the political process.
One of those in attendance at Thursday’s Tiger Bay Club meeting was Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett.
“I thought it was very interesting,” said Bennett, who believes youth involvement should start earlier. “They are all pushing to get the youth involved, but I don’t see it happening.”
Bennett said his office is recruiting teenagers who can work at a precinct at age 16, get registered to vote, get five hours of community service credit and earn $125 for the work.
Manatee County voter demographics
Registered Republicans make up the largest group of voters in the Bradenton area. By 2022, local GOP leaders had added about 20,000 voters to their ranks since 2018, while, Democrats added about 5,000 voters.
As of April 27, there were 126,866 voters registered as Republicans in Manatee County, compared to 78,675 registered as Democrats and 79,760 others, according to the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections web page.
