Sunrise Response to GA: Young People Win

In response to Senator Raphael Warnock's victory in Georgia, Sunrise Movement Executive Director, Varshini Prakash, released the following statement:

"Every single election is a historic election for young voters, and still people are shocked. But the truth is, young people win. Warnock's strategy of investing heavily in young voters paid off because we organize, we get out the vote and we consistently vote for Democrats who speak to the issues we face everyday. We know the stakes: from the climate crisis to getting guns out of schools.

"It's clear that this election was won by the young, Black, brown, and working class people who are traditionally cast aside as 'nonvoters.' These are the groups that Democrats must invest in and that starts by fighting for the policies young people are demanding. President Biden must do everything in his executive power to stop the climate crisis, cancel student loans, and fight for our rights.

"This race was dangerously close because of the Right's local organizing power. That's why we're standing up and fighting back. We're focusing the power of our winning movement on building long-term power from the ground up in communities across the country. We won't let up until we win a Green New Deal."

Sunrise played a critical role in reaching thousands of young Georgians to make a plan to vote. Over the past three weeks, Sunrise made 400,000 contacts to young people in Georgia - which is nearly double what Sunrise did to elect Senator Ed Markey in 2020. Sunrise volunteers in Georgia also organized on the ground to get out the vote. As we've also seen in exit polling, climate is a motivating issue for young voters, which made the difference in the Georgia election.

This comes after a huge youth surge in the midterm elections, with young people breaking the second highest youth turnout of any midterm in the last 30 years. Click here for our 2022 impact memo. Sunrise Movement Executive Director also laid out a post-2022 analysis on why Democrats must invest in young people to win.