Young Mainers participate in a day of action organized by Maine Youth Action, a youth-led nonprofit that aims to get young people from across the state involved in politics and advocacy. (Photo courtesy of Hope Anthony)
With in-person gatherings halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anna Siegel of Yarmouth, then an eighth grader, turned the energy she’d previously put into climate strikes and rallies into learning how the Maine Legislature worked.
Siegel, now 18, gave herself a crash course — and then came up with the idea to provide the same for others her age. After years of planning and help from other young people across the state, that idea came to fruition last week with the launch of the Maine Youth Political Portal from Maine Youth Action, a youth-led nonprofit that aims to get young people from across the state involved in politics and advocacy.
“I realized that Maine as an aging state is really reflected in our demographics in politics, and I realized just how inaccessible it can be to be a young person who wants to go into politics,” Siegel said.
The non-partisan resource is mainly geared toward youth looking to run for elected office, as it includes a “candidate builder” library of training resources, funds for campaign assistance, and current and former young elected leaders who are willing to share their insight. However, Siegel intends for the portal to have a broader impact, too.
“Providing young people with the tools to run for office makes them more likely to understand the importance of elections, to research and evaluate the candidates on the ballot, volunteer at election booths or with other candidates,” Siegel explained. “Comprehensive and experiential education improves voter turnout, so it’s not just about running for office.
The portal also links to current candidate endorsements from advocacy organizations on a range of issues and volunteer activities. Beyond political engagement, Siegel sees the portal as a tool to help her generation, dubbed “the anxious generation,” combat stress about the future by providing tangible, local ways to get involved in politics.
“Understanding what you can do to take action, at least for me personally, really helped me combat eco-anxiety and eco-grief,” Siegel said.
Anna Siegel of Yarmouth. (Courtesy photo)
Learning from those who’ve paved the way
When Rep. Maggie O’Neil (D-Saco) was first elected in 2016, she was the youngest woman serving in the Maine Legislature. O’Neil is one of a handful of young lawmakers who are listed as mentors on the portal, volunteering to serve as a resource for other young people who are interested in running for office.
“From what I’ve seen from serving, there are a lot of issues that we vote on that I think sitting legislators don’t necessarily represent the general population all the time,” O’Neil said. “It would be really nice to have a strong cohort of young people. We always have a handful of people in the Legislature, which is nice, but it’d be really nice to see more.”
O’Neil said essentially every environmental proposal she’s championed during her time in office has been in partnership with youth, in particular those at Maine Youth Action. For example, Maine became the first state to make a commitment to divest from fossil fuels through an act of a Legislature, a bill from O’Neil that she credits much of the success of to the young people who worked hard to lobby for it.
Siegel sees in O’Neil and the other mentors what she thinks young people can add to politics. Young lawmakers are more inclined to listen to other young people, Siegel explained, but they also often have the long-term future in mind.
“They have nuanced solutions to complex problems,” Siegel said, “and that’s the advantage of youth in politics.”
Currently wrapping her fourth term, O’Neil decided to go to law school while serving in the Legislature.
“I was really clear on what my intent was,” O’Neil said. “I wanted to go to school to be a more effective advocate because I was working within a system that is complicated and I thought that having those credentials would help me be more effective. And, it totally has been true.”
Siegel, who is currently a freshman at Cornell University, shares a similar goal — not necessarily to become a politician herself but to ensure that those making the laws are well informed about the topic at hand.
“I got involved in climate activism as someone who wants to be a scientist,” Siegel said. “I am currently studying to become a conservation ornithologist, and my goal is to do applied scientific research, directly advising policy and decision making from studies so that politicians can make better decisions around climate and conservation from ecological research.”
A hope for replication nationwide
In Maine in particular, Siegel thinks it is important for young people to run for office given the state’s aging population. However, Siegel also sees opportunity to replicate the Maine Youth Political Portal in other states.
When she first thought of creating a nonpartisan curriculum for youth interested in running for office, she’d imagined an in-person program.
She came to realize such programs are offered to young people through existing organizations — such as Emily’s List, which is aimed to help Democratic female candidates, and Run for Something, which already targets young people. However, in speaking with representatives from many of these organizations, Siegel found barriers to youth involvement.
“The issue is that a lot of youth can’t do in-person all-day boot camps, or they can’t pay to fly out to those locations, or they don’t feel comfortable in these mixed-age adult spaces,” Siegel explained.
Siegel ultimately decided to pitch the idea for the online portal, a readily available resource, to Maine Youth Action in light of those concerns.
“What would it look like to work with youth from around the country to make state versions all over the place?” Siegel said. “That would be so cool, and it’s something I think a lot about. I don’t know how I’d get started, but I’m open to ideas.”
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