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The victory by Doug Jones in Alabama -- a state that hadn’t elected a Democrat in 25 years -- was an earthquake.

Many political pundits are already predicting a wave of electoral victories for Democrats in 2018. But, if the party doesn’t take seriously the lessons of his election, those predictions are likely to fall short.

NBA legend Charles Barkley, a native Alabamian who campaigned across the state for Jones, said, “This is a wake-up call for Democrats to do better for black people and poor white people.”

He’s right, of course. But these aren’t the only voters long neglected by Democrats.

Jones’s victory should also be a wake-up call to the Democratic Party about the power of independent voters -- particularly millennials -- and the critical need to build bridges to them as early in the electoral process as possible.

As a red-state millennial and elected Democratic state senator myself, I can attest to two things. We can be competitive as a party anywhere we invest the time and energy to reach out to local communities, and success depends on developing a political culture that can attract millennials, who are now the largest group of voters in the country.