This election is breaking all sorts of records.
Joe Biden holds the new record for the most votes ever received in a U.S. presidential election, surpassing Barack Obama’s 2008 record. And despite being in the thick of a pandemic, we’ve seen voters across the nation turn out in record numbers to cast their ballots early and via mail.
The world of politics is changing. More young people have been getting involved in politics in recent years, and votes from the younger generations have become more essential than ever to winning elections.
Sara Jacobs, who just ran for the 53rd Congressional District in San Diego, is no exception. The votes are in, and the Associated Press dubbed the race a win for Jacobs. Surpassing opponent Georgette Gomez with roughly 60% of votes, she now represents a large part of the urban core of San Diego, including central neighborhoods, eastern suburbs and the city of Chula Vista east of Interstate 805.
BREAKING: Democrat Sara Jacobs wins election to U.S. House in California's 53rd Congressional District. #APracecall at 9:33 p.m. PST. #Election2020 #CAelection https://t.co/lGfinjTqT4
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 4, 2020
Both Democrats ran to replace Representative Susan Davis, who announced last year that she would not seek re-election after serving the 53rd District for twenty years.
With this win, Jacobs will now become the youngest person representing California in Congress. At 31, she will join other young members of congress like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was the youngest elected member in modern history at 29 in 2018 (recently bumped by North Carolina’s newly elected Madison Cawthorn, 25).
There’s a current total of 26 millennial representatives in Congress, and this election is certainly adding to that number.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jacobs attributed her victory to her campaign’s push to involve people who don’t normally see themselves in politics. “We all really believed that it wasn’t just about talking about doing politics differently but actually doing politics differently,” she told the newspaper.
[Featured image: Sara Jacobs]