Vulnerable Dems signed pledge from Gen Z group that pushes no-cash bail, decriminalizing prostitution
Vulnerable House Dems celebrated aligning with a left-wing Gen Z advocacy organization heading into 2024
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A handful of vulnerable House Democrats, including those in pivotal battleground states, celebrated partnering with a left-wing Gen Z advocacy group ahead of 2024 that supports policies such as decriminalizing prostitution and abolishing cash bail.
"I am thrilled to be a Voters of Tomorrow Youth Vote Champion. As elected officials, my colleagues and I have a unique opportunity to give young Americans a voice in their future," Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright said of the endorsement, according to an X post from the Voters of Tomorrow.
A left-wing advocacy group that promotes voting among Gen Z voters, Voters of Tomorrow has a particular focus on "justice" issues such as decriminalizing prostitution, dismantling "racist" institutions — including those that carry out "racial profiling in education and policing" and ending "racist voting laws" — as well as calling for stricter gun control, and ending "the abusive practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Voters of Tomorrow announced last year that 36 members of Congress joined a "Youth Vote Champion" pledge in an effort to engage young Gen Z voters, a generation typically considered to include anyone born between 1997 and 2013.
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Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) speaks before President Biden takes the stage to speak on his Safer America Plan at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30, 2022. Cartwright is among a number of vulnerable House Democrats in the 2024 cycle endorsed by Voters of Tomorrow, a left-wing advocacy group. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"We have to engage young voters not only in the two weeks before the election, but in the two years before the election," Jack Lobel, 18, the national press secretary of Voters of Tomorrow, told Axios at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As the election season heats up this year, Fox News Digital found that a handful of the House members who took the Voters of Tomorrow pledge are located in swing-districts, including Cartwright, Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio, Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, and Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania.
Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) speaks to supporters at a watch party on Nov. 8, 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska. Peltola is running for re-election in 2024 and has the endorsement of the left-wing advocacy group Voters of Tomorrow. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The four members of Congress were identified last year by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as vulnerable in the 2024 elections, assigning them as members of the Frontline Program for vulnerable incumbents. Each member celebrated joining forces with the Voters of Tomorrow in comments shared by the advocacy group on social media.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I wholeheartedly agree with Voters of Tomorrow’s view that empowering Gen Z in our political process is a requirement for building a better future," Landsman said in a message of his support of Voters of Tomorrow.
"I ran for Congress to be an advocate for all Alaskans — from every region, background, and generation. Encouraging young people to get involved in our political process benefits everyone — and is a responsibility I take very seriously," Peltola said in another message posted by Voters of Tomorrow last year.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) told Fox News Digital that the four Democrats aligning with Voters of Tomorrow ahead of 2024 shows they are not "moderate" Democrats, but instead "complete frauds that should never be re-elected."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Self-proclaimed moderate House Democrats are once again showing the American people where their true priorities lie: abolishing cash bail, defunding the police, ending ICE & CBP, and decriminalizing sex work and drugs. It’s dangerous, and exposes how Cartwright, Landsman, Peltola, or Wild are complete frauds that should never be reelected," the NRCC’s rapid response director Macy Gardner told Fox News Digital.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the campaigns for comment, but did not receive replies.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Immigration and the economy are two of the biggest issues weighing on voters this election cycle, while crime still ranks high for voters following 2020’s historically bloody year, which was followed by other ongoing crime trends, such smash-and-grab robberies and carjackings.
Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) joins Protect Our Care to speak during a press conference on Sept. 21, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Wild has been recognized as a "Youth Vote Champion" by the left-wing group Voters of Tomorrow. (Brian Stukes/Getty Images for Protect Our Care)
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Prostitution has spiraled in certain areas of the country in recent months, which has been compounded by the immigration crisis and local state laws. Residents in California have particularly voiced their outrage over rampant and brazen prostitution on city streets, which many pin blame on a law that repealed a previous law that banned loitering with the intent of engaging in prostitution. New York City has also seen "third world" conditions, including prostitutes and pimps walking the streets of Queens in broad daylight.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Voters of Tomorrow argues prostitution should be decriminalized, saying that "Sex work is work."
"Criminalizing consensual sex, including the exchange of these services, is taking away from the human right to autonomy and privacy. The government should not be telling consenting adults who they can have sexual relationships with and on what terms," the group says on its website.
The group also advocates for the end of cash bail, which would abolish the requirement that suspects charged with crimes post bail in order to leave jail while they await court proceedings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If the ‘justice’ system has policies or laws in place that have a monetary value tied to them, then those policies only apply to low-income people. No one should have to remain in prison for the duration of their case just because they do not have the financial means to pay their bail. Cash bail only applies to low-income people and we need equal justice," the group states.
Voters of Tomorrow was founded in 2019 by a 17-year-old immigrant from Mexico, Santiago Mayer, after he "noticed a lack of political engagement at his high school," according to the group's website. The group has since gone on to advocate that Gen Z vote, including in both the 2020 election and the 2022 midterms.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I Voted" stickers are stacked at a polling place. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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The Republican Party had a lackluster 2022 in the midterms, which some have attributed to lack of outreach to America’s youngest voting generation.
"Another reason that the polling was so inaccurate and that so many critical races swung to Democrats is the growing importance of Gen Z voters, which appears to have been completely ignored by the GOP," Fox News contributor Liz Peek wrote in an op-ed in 2022, arguing Gen Z "stopped the Republicans’ expected red wave."
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"Not only did Gen Z show up in force, they overwhelmingly picked Democrats, by a 28-point margin. That preference was close to their vote in 2020, which went 62% Democrat and only 32% GOP."