Amol Jethwani: The Voice of the Younger Generation

If you don’t know who Amol Jethwani is, you might want to do some research. He is changing the face of politics by being the youngest Democrat to run for the Florida House of Representatives. Not only is he just 21 years old, but he’s also a student at the University of Florida studying Political Science.

I came across Amol Jethwani when he was featured on the Good Luck America Snapchat story. I was completely blown away by what he has accomplished at such a young age. I just turned 21 and I wouldn’t even dream about entering the world of politics right now.

Jethwani steps up for young voters in America and he steps up for changing the face of the current political system. When I asked Jethwani what motivated him to make the decision to run for Florida Representative, he told me that he “wasn’t seeing the results [he] wanted" and felt that if he “couldn’t find someone to make the changes" we needed then he would do it himself. He didn’t want to give total credit to the 2016 election, but he did say it was a factor in making his decision to run. He said that the results of the 2016 election “threw the rulebook out of the window." The world of politics is changing, and Amol Jethwani wants to work to promote a better society.

Some of Jethwani’s goals beyond just getting elected would be to make it normative to have more diverse political candidates run for office. Jethwani is not only just 21, but he is also gay and an immigrant born Indian-American. He is setting the example for the younger generation by stepping up and standing up for what he believes in.

When researching Jethwani, I wanted to know more about what he meant when he said it was important to “reach across the aisle." He said that he wants to create a dialogue between the Democrat and Republican parties about issues of policy, which is exactly the kind of change that needs to happen. Although he believes in compromising to reach solutions, he doesn’t want to have to “abandon [his] progressive values" to do so. Running as a Democrat, he wants to stand up for what he believes in and make the changes that need to be made.

I asked Jethwani if he was worried about his young age being a deciding factor when it comes down to voting, especially because the majority of voters in Florida are made up of older members of the community. He said that from the beginning of the campaign he anticipated that his age would be a negative factor. The standards were “automatically raised" for him because of his age, and he just continually has to “rise to the standards". His goal was to create a campaign and be a “candidate worthy of a vote", and change people’s minds about the younger generation being involved in politics. He did say he has seen a great amount of support from older members of the community that believe Jethwani is bringing fresh new ideas into the field of politics.

Amol Jethwani is changing the voice of politics by advocating for young voters and a more diverse group of political candidates. His passion for politics is paving the way for the younger generation as he steps up and fights for what he believes in.