5 Reasons Young People CAN'T Win
Including our biggest challenge yet...
It's been one month since I launched my run for Arizona's 7th Congressional District. If elected, I would be the first Gen Z woman and the youngest member. Only a few weeks in and the reasons why young people are underrepresented across elected office up and down the ballot and across the country could not be clearer to me. There are many, but I've put my top 5 together here for you in an inside look at the hardest parts of this campaign.
5. We can’t afford the right experience
I can't tell you how many times people have asked me "Why not start at a state or local level?" And I'll tell you it's not because I don't think they're important— quite the opposite. I got my start fighting for better sex education at a school board level. It's because, like most young, working-class people, I can't afford it.
Just this year our Arizona State Senate lost Eva Burch, one of our most outspoken champions for abortion rights, because of the $24K salary of the State Legislature. A salary that hasn't seen a raise since 1998, before I was born. In 2024 when I interviewed Lorena Austin, the first Chicanx gender-nonconforming state legislator in the country. They shared that they had to leave their job in the public sector, couldn’t even afford an apartment, and had not put anything toward retirement. They went on to tell me: "Even if people wanted to elect me… I can't afford it.” You can watch the full interview here.
Our generation is weathering a cost-of-living crisis we didn't create, and it's affecting who can afford to participate in politics. If unpaid and underpaid labor continue to be the prerequisite to leadership, we will continue to have a crisis of representation in this country and lose out on our strongest voices.
4. It's not safe
The first thing I had to do to join this race was doxx myself. That's right. In the process of filing my candidate paperwork, I was required to submit to public record my sensitive personal information. I don't just feel, I am less safe at home today than I was one month ago. That simple fact is enough to keep most of the young women I know from even considering running for office.
One of my first political memories was an act of political violence against a woman I admire very much. I was in elementary school when Gabby Giffords, a Congresswoman representing my hometown of Tucson, was shot at a “Congress On Your Corner” constituent event and nearly died. Her legacy and advocacy on the issue of gun violence has informed my own understanding of politics and the gravity of the decision to run at all.
Political violence and gender-based violence are unacceptable, but certainly not new. Though, the tools and platforms that facilitate them at scale are evolving every day. According to the UNFPA, 85% of women have experienced digital violence or witnessed another woman experience it. That can look like doxxing, cyber mobs, or deepfakes, 96% of which are porn and ALL of which target women.
3. Young people don't show up
An infamous chicken and egg situation. Young people don't show up to vote. So campaigns don't invest their limited time and resources in engaging them. So young people don't show up. So on and so forth. In 2024, we not only lost significant numbers of young people to apathy, but to the other side. That's a problem that can't wait until the next presidential election in 2028 to address.
I get it. The race I'm running now, a Special Election Primary in the middle of summer, is a perfect storm for low youth turnout. But what is still left to be seen is what is hard for pollsters to capture and goes without precedent: the effect of seeing yourself in a candidate for the first time.
Our district hasn't had a competitive congressional race in the last 20 years, basically my lifetime. And it's entirely possible we won't see another for 20 more years. So, anyone thinking long-term about the health of our democracy and the Democratic Party Gen Z will inherit should welcome the most engaging primary possible in Arizona’s 7th and across the country. Anything less is short-sighted.
2. Fundraising fucking sucks
Traditional fundraising tactics were built around a very specific kind of candidate: rich, old, white men. The first thing anyone will tell you to do on launch day is call time. The directive being to ring your friends and family and ask for money. A tactic that works better when you're not the person friends and family call for money. It also tends to be more effective when you have 50 years worth of contacts to rolodex and call. Not to mention that older people tend to have older friends who tend to have more disposable income to contribute. A disparity only worsened by the cost of living crisis they created and our generation inherited.
I break it down on a morning walk and talk here.
As a first-generation American and a young working-class candidate, I've got to do things differently. And as a digital strategist and organizer at heart, I'm up for the challenge. That's where people power comes in. We have numbers. 4 million people have viewed our campaign content since launch. If each and every one of you pitched in $1, $10, or whatever you could, we would be done fundraising. Imagine how different things would be if our candidates weren't beholden to big donors or corporate interests. It's not far off—in fact, it's entirely possible.
1. Which brings me to our biggest challenge and the only one that really matters: You haven't invested in us yet.
The only thing standing between us and electing a new generation of leaders who are willing to do things differently is you moving to action.
Thank you, and if you could chip in any amount, I’d really appreciate it.
In solidarity,
Deja Foxx
At a moment when public services and working families are under attack, Deja is ready to stand up and lead—because for her, it's personal.
Right now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attacking the same public services that she and so many others have relied on. This moment calls for more than a politician—our communities deserve a fighter.
Deja isn’t a politician, but she’s no stranger when it comes to fighting for our futures. At age 16, she went toe to toe with Republicans who voted in lockstep with the Trump Administration to defund Planned Parenthood. She’s spent over a decade organizing around economic opportunity, gun violence prevention, and reproductive freedom.
Now, she's running in Arizona's 7th Congressional District to take the fight to Congress and represent a new generation of progressive leaders ready to disrupt on day one.
PAID FOR BY FOXX FOR ARIZONA
Ms. Foxx, you are correct on each point with the exception of point one. A few thoughts: #5. No one in state level office can afford it as the sole source of income. It’s why virtually all members have other jobs except maybe those rare few who don’t need them. #4. Public life is, unfortunately these days, far less safe than in the past for everyone. You’re not alone. #3. Young people have NOT been showing up for generations. Change their minds. #2. No one likes fundraising. Some DO have deep rolodexes (are there still such things?). It sucks. It’s part of the job. #1. I’ve donated what I can which isn’t much. But I am promoting you to my friends, on Bluesky, etc. and I don’t know if it’ll help. Still, the most important thing is I, and I suspect many others, believe you actually are a good candidate, a forward thinking candidate. I hope you win the seat. But if you don’t, don’t give up. You already know how to keep fighting.
Your documentation of the process is going down in history as one of the most transparent campaigns we’ve ever seen in the digital world ❤️