The political process does not end on Election Day. Young people need to stay involved in the process by continuing to pay attention to the conversation and holding their leaders accountable for the decisions they make.
Politically speaking, Miami-Dade was once a Republican stronghold, thanks in large part to older Cuban voters who became more politically influential following the Bay of Pigs invasion. In contrast, Democrats used to rely on votes in North Florida and the Space Coast in an era of much softer partisanship.
There's certain issues, as I say in my speeches, that I'm not going to compromise on; I'm not going to compromise on a woman's right to choose and on marriage equality.
I don't think 'my way or the highway' works, that mentality. And that's what the Tea Party has done: drawn a line in the sand. I'm sorry - that doesn't work in business, that doesn't work in your family, it certainly doesn't work in government and our Congress.
Whether it's threats to Medicare, cuts in education spending, or Internet privacy, the ramifications got young people out to vote and should be enough to keep them involved in our political system.
What will be the final straw that finally forces Congress to at least open up formal debate - let alone introduce a bill, pass it, and have it signed into law - that curbs the scourge of gun deaths across the country?
I got into politics because I was tired of complaining.
Young people deserve stable employment opportunities and not mountains of debt. When young people can access the middle class, America is strengthened.
The Tea Party movement went off on a more extreme agenda that I did not support at all, and was very frustrated by it, to the point that not only did I change parties, I decided to do something about it and run for Congress.
My dad's a Republican. My dad's my mentor. When I was 18 or whatever it was and I decided to register to vote. My dad's Republican, so that's what I decided to register as.
Florida has been, and will continue to be, a swing state.
In the 2016 U.S. Senate race, I was on the receiving end of more than $3 million in outside negative attacks funded by the NRA, the second-most spent on any Senate campaign in the country.
As a 9-year-old child, I vividly remember the day Hurricane Andrew touched down in 1992. My family was living in the Upper Florida Keys at the time, and we soon realized its utter devastation to South Florida, with entire blocks leveled by Andrew's vicious winds.
There can be no more burying our heads in the sand by being afraid to even mention the words 'climate change' aloud.
The impact of our warming planet will likely lead to even stricter zoning and building codes to account for the rising sea levels visible in places like South Beach - even on days without a cloud in sky.
We must maintain strong building codes, strengthen flood insurance programs, and forcefully acknowledge the reality that rising sea temperatures caused by made-man climate change are negatively impacting our way of life. This should be a bipartisan task that finds support with bipartisan solutions.
The closely divided presidential election of 2000 - in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by the slimmest of margins in Florida - forever implanted the divide between red states and blue states in our political consciousness.
As the country's third-largest state by population, Florida is the crown jewel in the Electoral College among swing states.
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I have made our nation's response to cyberwarfare a primary focus.
No matter which party is in the White House, doubt in America's democratic institutions rattles our nation to its core. This should not be a partisan issue for any reason, as any candidate or party could be on the receiving end of a hack at any time.
