If you ever thought your vote didn't matter, Nate Roberts would like a word.

Roberts, a member of Pocatello, Idaho, Local 449, won his election to the Idaho state House by 112 votes out of 14,500 cast. That is a margin of 0.7%.

"Take it from me, your vote counts," Roberts said.

And it isn't just in local ballots.

In 2022, the Congress that passed American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act — literally trillions of dollars for infrastructure and manufacturing — was up for election.

The Democrats kept the Senate by holding every seat and taking Pennsylvania.

But if they had held onto only five House seats, they would have broken the back of the midterm election curse that has plagued every president but one since 1946.

While pundits were predicting a red wave from coast to coast, what proved them wrong were a handful of decisions around kitchen tables and snap decisions behind the steering wheel last November.

The pro-union House majority was lost by just 6,675 votes in total in those five districts.

That is 0.006% of the 107 million votes cast nationwide.

Less than 7,000 people decided it just wasn't worth it to show up.

"Especially when I talk with apprentices and ask them if they are registered, they say, 'My vote doesn't matter,'" Roberts said. "A union is only as strong as the people involved. The same is true for government. When working people stay home, we elect weak individuals who are happy to work for the worst people instead of us."