A Note from David

When I talked to people about whether or not I should run, I was told by many that it wouldn’t be possible for me to have any real impact.

This reminded me of something many people like myself from Southern states like Florida are all too familiar with hearing: “This state will never change, it’s too Republican.” 

This is what my classmates and I were told by the pollsters and pundits following the shooting at my high school in Parkland, Florida.

But we proved them wrong.

We raised the age to buy a gun to 21 and passed a red flag law that has been used over 19,000 times to disarm people who are a risk to themselves and others. What made it possible for us to change gun laws more than anything wasn’t billions of dollars, it wasn’t a huge super PAC or even a Democratic Majority—though those would have been nice to have. What made it possible was that classmates, parents, teachers, and neighbors from my community came together to inspire a state and a country to believe change was possible. Had we listened to the pollsters and pundits we never would have created one of the largest youth movements in the world, and defeated the most NRA backed House members in U.S. history.

I remember as I traveled the country after the shooting, registering tens of thousands of youth voters with my classmates, I was exhausted, but I didn’t stop. This moment calls on us to do the same. Many of us are exhausted. Many want to stop. And many of us simply don’t feel anything at all. Regardless of how we feel, we need to keep moving forward, because people are counting on us. 

I’m not giving up and I will never stop until we build a country where school shootings are history—not headlines.

A country where families aren’t forced to leave our Blue states and cities because of sky high housing costs, because we actually address the housing crisis in something other than our press releases. A country where veterans are not denied benefits from the VA while on their deathbed, and their children are never forced to make the impossible decision of a lifetime of medical debt or an early death. A society where teachers get to focus on teaching instead of shielding their students from the next shooting. Lastly, a party that helps solve the problems of rising costs and crime with a concrete plan instead of gaslighting voters and telling them that these aren’t real issues.

The above can only be made possible by a party that takes a long, hard look in the mirror after a loss and commits to addressing our mistakes.