Gen Z Representation in Congress Triples as Young Candidates Win at Least 97 Races

Five millennials win Senate races; 16 races with young candidates remain uncalled

WASHINGTON — When the 120th U.S. Congress convenes in 2027, a wave of Gen Z and millennial leaders will surge into the halls of power. At least 97 Gen Zers and millennials were elected on Tuesday: 90 House members, five senators and two delegates.

Twenty-two Gen Z and 250 millennial candidates ran in the November general election. Of the 255 whose races have been called or conceded, 97 won (about 38%) as of Nov. 4. Sixteen races with a Gen Z or millennial candidate remain uncalled, and one race with a millennial candidate will go to a runoff on Dec. 12.

Gen Z representation in Congress tripled, with Melat Kiros and Michael Alfonso joining Maxwell Frost in the House; Alfonso is the first Gen Z Republican elected to Congress. Millennials were the largest generational bloc running for Senate, and five have won: Jon Ossoff was reelected, and James Talarico, Abdul El-Sayed, Annie Andrews and Julia Letlow won seats. Scott Colom’s race in Mississippi is too close to call as of publication.

Four Future Caucus members will ascend from their state legislatures to Congress in the new year: Micah Lasher from New York, Jasmine Clark from Georgia, Manny Rutinel from Colorado, and J. D. Ford from Indiana. In October, Future Caucus released its biennial On the Rise report on Gen Z and millennial candidates for Congress, finding that candidates with state-level experience made it to the general election ballot at twice the rate of those without.

Other findings in On the Rise 2026:

• 1 in 3 candidates for Congress were Gen Zers or millennials. In 2026, for the first time, Gen Zers and millennials made up more than a third of the congressional candidate pool, up from 1 in 4 in 2024 and 1 in 6 in 2022.
• Men outnumbered women by 3 to 1. The gap was wider among younger candidates: More than 4 in 5 Gen Z candidates were men, the largest gender disparity of any generational cohort.
• Gen Z candidates were the most likely to run outside the two major parties. One in 6 filed as third party or unaffiliated, most of them as independents.

Newly elected Gen Zers (updated Nov. 4)

Michael Alfonso (R-Wis.)
Melat Kiros (D-Colo.)

Newly elected millennials (updated Nov. 4)

Colin Allred (D-Texas)
Annie Andrews (D-S.C.), Senate
Darializa Avila Chevalier (D-N.Y.)
Rebecca Bennett (D-N.J.)
Adrian Boafo (D-Md.)
Jon Bonck (R-Texas)
Victoria Broderick (D-Tenn.)
Jasmine Clark (D-Ga.)
Wes Climer (R-S.C.)
Cait Conley (D-N.Y.)
Rebecca Cooke (D-Wis.)
Pia Dandiya (D-Fla.)
Zach Dembo (D-Ky.)
Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.), Senate
J. D. Ford (D-Ind.)
Sam Forstag (D-Mont.)
Houston Gaines (R-Ga.)
Johnny Garcia (D-Texas)
Patty Garcia (D-Ill.)
Chuck Gray (R-Wyo.)
Sydney Gruters (R-Fla.)
Leticia Gutierrez (D-Texas)
Christina Hines (D-Mich.)
Cyril Jefferson (D-N.C.)
Jim Kingston (R-Ga.)
Dan Koh (D-Mass.)
Micah Lasher (D-N.Y.)
William Lawrence (D-Mich.)
Julia Letlow (R-La.), Senate
Matt Little (D-Minn.)
Donavan McKinney (D-Mich.)
Jeremy Moss (D-Mich.)
Zack Mullock (D-N.J.)
Katy Padilla Stout (D-Texas)
Austin Rogers (R-Fla.)
Manny Rutinel (D-Colo.)
Janelle Sarauw (D-Virgin Islands), delegate
Jessica Steinmann (R-Texas)
James Talarico (D-Texas), Senate
Claire Valdez (D-N.Y.)
Randy Villegas (D-Calif.)
Marni von Wilpert (D-Calif.)
Robert White Jr. (D-D.C.), delegate
Jace Yarbrough (R-Texas)

Reelected Gen Zers (updated Nov. 4)

Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.)

Reelected millennials (updated Nov. 4)

Gabe Amo (D-R.I.)
Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.)
Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.)
Kat Cammack (R-Fla.)
Greg Casar (D-Texas)
Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.)
Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.)
Shomari Figures (D-Ala.)
Russell Fry (R-S.C.)
Clay Fuller (R-Ga.)
Brandon Gill (R-Texas)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.)
Lance Gooden (R-Texas)
Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.)
Josh Harder (D-Calif.)
Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.)
Brian Jack (R-Ga.)
Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.)
Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.)
Summer Lee (D-Pa.)
Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.)
Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.)
Celeste Maloy (R-Utah)
Sarah McBride (D-Del.)
LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.)
Analilia Mejia (D-N.J.)
Christian Menefee (D-Texas)
Rob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Joe Neguse (D-Colo.)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.)
Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)
Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Senate
Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.)
Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.)
Emily Randall (D-Wash.)
Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.)
Josh Riley (D-N.Y.)
Michael Rulli (R-Ohio)
Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.)
Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.)
Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.)
Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio)
William Timmons (R-S.C.)
Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.)
Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.)
Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.)
Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.)
James Walkinshaw (D-Va.)
Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.)