Jessica DeLoach: Why Mike Ross Is The Right Choice For The Millennial Voters

Editor’s note: This guest opinion-editorial is written by Jessica DeLoach, who provides political commentary for KARK Ch. 4 News and its Sunday morning program, Capitol View. She writes a weekly opinion column for Sync newspaper. DeLoach is also a former state president of the Young Democrats of Arkansas.

For the better part of my young adult life I have worked to boost civic engagement among millennial voters, a group typically defined as individuals between the ages of 18 and 33 – a group also considered by many to be unengaged and apathetic, or, at best, a bloc that consists primarily of social issue voters.

While I will not dispute that social issues are important to our demographic, the bulk of our political interests lie far beyond kitschy slogans and do-gooder merchandise. For as much as we admire political candidates who elect to champion our causes, our support and our votes do not come cheap. They must be earned through established good will and a sensible commitment to our livelihoods. Early to the game of life as we may be, we are still smart enough to recognize the need for solid stewards to navigate the issues that so deeply impact our futures.

Aside from the personal aspects of supporting a candidate, young Arkansans want, need and deserve elected officials who are capable of addressing our most resonant issues within the larger context of what works best for our state. This November, Arkansas millennials will have an opportunity to mobilize for a gubernatorial candidate capable of meeting that challenge, and that is demonstrated by his approach towards education.

Mike Ross, the son of public school educators, is a self-made man who knows the value of an education and the hurdles that come with obtaining one. Like the majority of young Arkansas voters, he was raised in the Arkansas public school system, and has a deep understanding of the issues that make pursuing an education so difficult for so many in our state. From access to affordability, Ross has worked to make sure that our young people have a smoother path towards an opportunity to learn and strengthen their futures.

As a State Senator, he helped create the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, which served to offset the costs of college for students by encouraging competitive GPA’s and ACT scores from high school graduates.

While serving in Congress, he also voted to increase funding for Pell Grants and voted to cut student loan interest rates by half. To take his commitment to Arkansas students even further, Ross consistently voted to raise the minimum wage and has indicated his commitment to continue to do so by supporting the current initiative being pursued in Arkansas.

For those who have decided that college is not their preferred route, Mike Ross has taken a stand for them by committing to invest more funds in career education so that skills can be acquired and translated into jobs that will improve the finances of working Arkansas families. And as a nod toward the future of our younger generations, he has created a plan to make pre-K accessible to every four-year old in the state.

At present, Mike’s likely GOP opponent in the Governor’s race, Asa Hutchinson, is a man who has a long Congressional record of opposing what’s best for the future generations of our state by voting against Head Start funding, federal student loan recipients and programs that would extend computer training, technology and educational opportunities to students.

He’s now championing plans and ideas that he was against not long ago.

While these education-related issues barely scratch the surface of why Mike Ross is the best candidate in this race, I think it’s pretty safe to say that young voters are smart enough to know when they are being pandered to for the sake of a campaign, and they would rather place their faith in a person with a proven track record of leadership that speaks to their futures.