A 17 year old reminds us how important our work is

Today I want to share an email I got from J, a 17 year old high school student just across the border from me in Kansas. Like me, his family struggled with medical bills when he was a kid — and now, just like me, he struggles with the corruption in our system and what we can do to change it.

I really want to share J’s message because so many people asked me about youth engagement and opinions during the campaign and his email is representative of many of the youth voices we engaged and encountered.

Before that, though, I want to add that his email, and the hundreds more emails and messages we get every week, are powerful reminders of how important this work is and how we can never give up. Even though I can't reply to or highlight every email or message I get, I do read them all and they help guide this content, so please keep sending them!

And if you choose to support this Substack as a paid subscriber, I do respond to every single person who submits a note with their subscription (which you can do here, to help us continue this effort!).

Without further ado, J from Overland Park:

Dear Lucas Kunce,

As a 17-year-old who can’t even vote and someone across state lines in Overland Park Kansas, on election night, It devastated me to see that you lost. I’m surrounded by both sides of politics, and I find my beliefs to be quite mixed and different from those in my family. Seeing your campaign ads on TV made me realize I wasn’t the only person with those values.

I was born a month premature and spent over 2 weeks in the NICU. The medical bills for my care were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I was lucky my extended family was able to help chip in and pay for my surgery. Hearing your story and seeing how similar it is to mine was refreshing, knowing that there was someone in government who was rooting and working for those in similar situations. This year was the first year I cared about politics, and it was because of you. Every time I saw your ads on TV, I had a smile on my face, and while I know that not all the people of Missouri shared that smile, I wanted you to know that your campaign had an impact.

After hearing about corporate PACs from your ads, I learned about them further in my AP Government class. It made me realize how much impact billionaires and CEOs have on elections. We had a debate on the Citizens United vs FEC Supreme Court decision in my class, and I made my stance very clear that I was against it. Seeing how greedy and corrupt politicians were allowed to spend millions of dollars on advertising against a political opponent, and lying straight to the faces of the working class to win their vote is disgusting. It’s even worse seeing the people closest to you be fooled by these blatant lies and vote against their interests. Seeing someone stand against corporate power and fight for the working class is truly inspirational.

When I heard I had to do a project for my Government class where I got involved in politics, I knew the only politician I wanted to turn to was you. I want to know what I can do to stop corporate power and greed from influencing elections. How do we stop billionaires and lobbyists from pushing their agenda onto congressmen and instead work together between parties for the benefit of the American people?

You are an inspiration to the people, and I hope you never stop fighting for people like you and me. Please continue to run, I know you can win, I know you will win.

Sincerely,

J.

(P.S. I have no idea how you didn’t punch Josh Hawley in the face at the Missouri State Fair. Not only does he have the most punchable face in politics, but he’s also an ass.)

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If you'd like to help us keep engaging across all generations, including young folks like J who are the future not just of politics and policy, but of our country (meaning we need them to be doing good things!), please continue to share this Substack with anyone you think might be interested.

Also, in order to continue our youth outreach, for everyone who creates a paid subscription through this post, if you include an email address of someone under the age of 25 in a note with your subscription, I will send them a year long paid subscription free of charge!

Let’s do this.

— Lucas