The political process does not end on Election Day. Young people need to stay involved in the process by continuing to pay attention to the conversation and holding their leaders accountable for the decisions they make.
Patrick Murphy
As the country's third-largest state by population, Florida is the crown jewel in the Electoral College among swing states.
Politically speaking, Miami-Dade was once a Republican stronghold, thanks in large part to older Cuban voters who became more politically influential following the Bay of Pigs invasion. In contrast, Democrats used to rely on votes in North Florida and the Space Coast in an era of much softer partisanship.
The impact of our warming planet will likely lead to even stricter zoning and building codes to account for the rising sea levels visible in places like South Beach - even on days without a cloud in sky.
I've grown up in a very diverse background.
The decision in Citizens United said that money equals speech, a position that I - and a vast majority of Americans, in poll after poll - could not disagree with more.
There's certain issues, as I say in my speeches, that I'm not going to compromise on; I'm not going to compromise on a woman's right to choose and on marriage equality.
My dad's a Republican. My dad's my mentor. When I was 18 or whatever it was and I decided to register to vote. My dad's Republican, so that's what I decided to register as.
I don't think 'my way or the highway' works, that mentality. And that's what the Tea Party has done: drawn a line in the sand. I'm sorry - that doesn't work in business, that doesn't work in your family, it certainly doesn't work in government and our Congress.
Whether it's threats to Medicare, cuts in education spending, or Internet privacy, the ramifications got young people out to vote and should be enough to keep them involved in our political system.
What will be the final straw that finally forces Congress to at least open up formal debate - let alone introduce a bill, pass it, and have it signed into law - that curbs the scourge of gun deaths across the country?
I got into politics because I was tired of complaining.
Young people deserve stable employment opportunities and not mountains of debt. When young people can access the middle class, America is strengthened.
The Tea Party movement went off on a more extreme agenda that I did not support at all, and was very frustrated by it, to the point that not only did I change parties, I decided to do something about it and run for Congress.
Florida has been, and will continue to be, a swing state.
In the 2016 U.S. Senate race, I was on the receiving end of more than $3 million in outside negative attacks funded by the NRA, the second-most spent on any Senate campaign in the country.
As a 9-year-old child, I vividly remember the day Hurricane Andrew touched down in 1992. My family was living in the Upper Florida Keys at the time, and we soon realized its utter devastation to South Florida, with entire blocks leveled by Andrew's vicious winds.
There can be no more burying our heads in the sand by being afraid to even mention the words 'climate change' aloud.
We must maintain strong building codes, strengthen flood insurance programs, and forcefully acknowledge the reality that rising sea temperatures caused by made-man climate change are negatively impacting our way of life. This should be a bipartisan task that finds support with bipartisan solutions.
The closely divided presidential election of 2000 - in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by the slimmest of margins in Florida - forever implanted the divide between red states and blue states in our political consciousness.
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I have made our nation's response to cyberwarfare a primary focus.
No matter which party is in the White House, doubt in America's democratic institutions rattles our nation to its core. This should not be a partisan issue for any reason, as any candidate or party could be on the receiving end of a hack at any time.
We need to end unlimited, unaccountable money for all political parties by passing comprehensive campaign finance reform.
The Citizens United decision dramatically intensified the political gridlock in our country.
Citizens United was no victory for free speech.
My birth mom has certainly not lived a life of means in any stretch of the imagination, nor does she want to.
I was as middle class as it comes.
Way too many voters are apathetic and don't do their research and are on the sidelines.
I worked as a day laborer throughout college, worked for Deloitte and Touche, got my CPA.
Voters want to get things done.
A lot of folks look at the political calculation and then determine the policy. I think that's backward.
America needs a long-term vision.
