OP-ED: Republican Party of Florida Embraces Millennials and Digital

After years of flailing in the digital space as a party and turning a blind eye to the next generation of voters; it is safe to say the Republican Party of Florida and Blaise Ingoglia have given me hope that the GOP has finally realized the error of their ways in past elections.

Over the weekend, Orlando played host city to the quarterly meeting for the Republican Party of Florida. Like most quarterly meetings, there were caucus meetings and committee heads in attendance, but this quarterly meeting had a different energy. It was younger and more digitally active.

Teenage Republicans (TARs), College Republican (CRs), and Young Republicans (YRs) roamed the halls in between committee meetings and even had a seat at the table in a couple meetings such as, the Digital Engagement Committee and the Next Generation Republican Roundtable. These additions to the quarterly meeting made it apparent, RPOF was focusing on and investing in the youth vote while at the same time embracing the digital space.

As Florida heads into a pivotal election year, embracing digital and reaching the youth vote will be imperative if we as a party hope to turn the state a crimson red and set America up for a win in 2016. While the presidential election may seem light years away, RPOF’s Chairman understands the importance of laying the ground work early to ensure everyone is ready to by the time election season rolls around.

In previous elections Republicans have been on the losing side when it came to using digital as a tool and engaging Millennials in the election process. Democrats have always been on the cutting edge of social media and been able to energize Millennials to show up to vote. In the words of RPOF’s Chairman, Blaise Ingoglia, “Republicans don’t have a messaging problem, we have a marketing problem.” Ingoglia hit the nail on the head, and in an effort to fix the GOP’s marketing problem, he has taken the issue by the horns.

At RPOF Quarterly, the meetings skewed younger and for the first time I did not pull the median age down by 10 years. I was among my peers and they were engaged! We all wanted to be there and hear how we could make a difference in 2016. Why? Because someone finally understood how to reach my generation and offer them a say in the political process.

According to recent statistics, by 2020, the youth vote will be made up of 90 million eligible voters out pacing the Baby Boomer generation. While Millennial voters outnumber senior voters 46 million to 39 million, only 45 percent of them vote, while 72 percent of seniors participate in our democracy. Millennials are not the be all, end all in 2016, but they’re a good place to start, because as we saw in 2008, once you mobilize the youth vote, winning the rest of the voting bloc is easy.