If you moved away from your hometown or state to attend WashU, you’ll understand how as a Michigander, my world at WashU has usually felt separate from back home. This summer, however, I noticed something interesting: As my social media feeds filled with content about midterm election candidates, my WashU mutuals were liking many of the posts I saw about Michigan U.S. Senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Perhaps non-Michiganders engage with El-Sayed because winning the Michigan U.S. Senate race feels essential for the national Democratic party. Or maybe these mutuals simply support El-Sayed’s progressive platform generally centered around affordability. In my opinion, though, El-Sayed has one policy in particular that resonates with young voters, especially college students from afar: “Money out of Politics.” Missouri candidates — and candidates nationwide — should be inspired to incorporate this idea of eliminating outsized corporate political influence into their policy platforms.

In Michigan’s August Democratic primary, El-Sayed’s campaign championed how he was free of corporate or Political Action Committee (PAC) money compared to his primary opponent, Haley Stevens, who received upwards of $40 million in support from corporations and PACs. This messaging worked, and he defeated Stevens despite huge discrepancies in donated resources.

Indeed, 72% of Americans agree that there is too much money in politics. The way that corporations and wealthy donors expend billions to influence election results not only feels wasteful amidst a populace struggling with rising costs of living but also threatens our democracy. Policymakers may feel incentivized to serve the institutions who funded their campaigns instead of their constituents. 

But it seems to me that this issue has particular saliency with young people today because we came of age in an era dominated by political propaganda, not just on television, but also on the internet. In the years following the Supreme Court’s infamous 2010 decision in Citizens United, corporate money has limitlessly poured into politics, infiltrating our lives with political advertisement after advertisement. While campaigns have of course always required funding, spending numbers have reached extremes in the past decade.

We have never known a time when policies weren’t just treated as soundbites. We want our representatives to listen to us, not wealthy donors. We crave candidates who will speak to us as voters with brains — not as malleable fear-driven objects. 

In the Democratic primary race for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which represents St. Louis, incumbent Wesley Bell defeated Cori Bush. His campaign allies also outspent Bush 27-to-1. This was not an even playing field.

Young voters know something needs to change in our political system. We do not want the money in this country to be spent on advertisements over actions with social value. Missouri, let’s take inspiration from El-Sayed — let’s get money out of politics.