He started college this fall and is casting his first ballot in a midterm election. His message to the people asking for his vote is simple: show your record, not your promises.

Joshua started college this fall, and this year he is doing something he has never done before: casting a ballot. In Texas, early voting for the November 3 election opens today and runs through October 30, and for first-time voters like him, the decision to show up was not automatic. It came from paying attention. “I just started college this year, and I am evolving to become a more informed citizen,” he said. “It’s troubling to witness in real time the undoing of so many protections that were afforded to many that came to America to live the American dream.”

That sense of watching history move in the wrong direction is what pushed him from interested to involved. He is part of a generation that is reshaping who votes in this country. As we reported this month, the next electorate is already here, and it is younger, more Hispanic and more naturalized than the one before it. Those voters are arriving with their own expectations, and they are not inheriting anyone’s loyalty by default.