ENews November 2026
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations Democracy Matters! For registering hundreds of voters, spending hours tabling with election information and motivational handouts, organizing panels and discussions about what was at stake, chalking your campuses, and marching and driving with students to the polls.
Your activism helped create a blue tsunami. Overall, 72% of youth ages 18-29 voted for Democratic candidates for Congress. A record-breaking 92% of LGBT youth, 90% of Black youth, and 77% of young women supported Democrats.
Today as we celebrate saving our democracy, we can look ahead with hope, knowing that the passion and determination of young people will continue to build a more just and inclusive democracy, one truly of by and for the people.
https://circle.tufts.edu/youth-vote-choice-demographics-2026-midterms
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“This [election] may be the end of a cycle, the end of a 10-year cycle. People are looking for a different kind of politics… tired of having a politics rooted in division and hate.”
E.J. Dionne, NY Times Political Commentator
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/31/opinion/midterms-races-democrats-election.html
JUSTICE ON MY MIND
The 2026 midterms have witnessed Elon Musk and other top campaign donors donating over a billion dollars to support their favorite candidates. In this month’s column, Mandle calls for campaign finance reform to limit the staggering political power of the ultra-rich.
Mandle emphasizes the urgency of reform in an era when a powerful new technology, controlled by only a handful of individuals, is changing - and perhaps threatening - all of our lives. He argues that the public should have the decisive voice in democratically determining the future of AI. But without limits on big money in elections, wealthy donors will continue to simply overwhelm the preferences of the majority of Americans.
Read the column at https://www.democracymatters.org/new-page-79
IDEAS OF THE MONTH
Remaining Vigilant - Protect Democracy!
Despite the overwhelming mandate of this election, we are not sure of what will occur over the next few months. As a result, "No Kings" is building a nationwide network of “rapid responders” who pledge to act in case of any attempt to deny the election results.
You can take the "No Kings" pledge at https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/1067000/ to be part of the nonviolent mass movement enforcing our democratic imperatives: Every vote counted; Every election certified; The results respected.
Planning the Future - What do YOU think?
DM is sponsoring discussions and tabling to gather and explore ideas for Congressional priorities. What are the most important tasks for the new Congress in 2027? What should it do first, second, third.... Regulate AI? Restore funding to Medicaid and SNAP? End the war in Iran? Ban data centers? Reduce the cost of college?
Elected officials need to hear what the people want! DMers will let lawmakers know what students think. And then follow up to make sure they were paying attention.
THE YOUTH VOTING RIGHTS ACT
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has publicly committed to reintroducing the Youth Voting Rights Act in January 2027. Despite the tremendous turnout of young people in this midterm, Warren stresses the serious obstacles young people continue to face when attempting to register and to vote. Warren's bill addresses these problems. It requires on-campus voting locations at colleges and universities, mandates pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds, and guarantees the acceptance of student IDs as voter identification.
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-renews-push-to-expand-youth-access-to-ballot-box-with-reintroduction-of-youth-voting-rights-act/
FACTS YOU CAN USE - U.S. Slows Global Climate Progress
The day Donald Trump took office, January 2024, he signaled that the United States would withdraw from the fight against climate change. Trump abandoned the US pledge at the Paris Agreement to cut harmful emissions, while also committing his Administration to the increased production and use of global-warming fossil fuels.
The recent UN report on climate change found that in 2025, emissions overall had slowed down among the group of 20 industrialized nations. However, the report explained, that was with “the United States of America being the major exception”.
The Trump Administration has systematically withdrawn support for wind and solar power, promoted data centers servicing A.I., and scrapped the scientific determination giving government the authority to combat climate change.
It is clear that the United States bears much of the responsibility for the world’s failure to reach its global goal of emission decline. But it remains to be seen whether the progressive upsurge that won the midterms can successfully press Congress to turn its attention to acting on 26existential problems like the future of climate change.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/climate/united-states-climate-pledge-emissions-gap-report.html