Generation Z and millennial candidates elbow into 2022 contention
November 2, 2022
This fall’s midterm congressional elections are witnessing the biggest effort yet by younger candidates to take charge from the capital’s aging political establishment.
by Paul Bedard, Washington Secrets Columnist
This fall’s midterm congressional elections are witnessing the biggest effort yet by younger candidates to take charge from the capital’s aging political establishment.
While the spotlight has been focused on 79-year-old President Joe Biden, 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 71-year-old Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and 76-year-old former President Donald Trump, younger candidates, one just 25, are nudging in for attention.
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A research project from the group Millennial Action Project shared today with Secrets showed that 1 in 6 candidates for the House and Senate are millennials, with two from Generation Z.
Overall, there are 193 “true millennial” candidates, those born between 1981 and 1996. And there are 334 candidates aged 45 or younger. “Despite not technically millennials, 45 represents the new generations to come in a political world where the average age of the U.S. House is 59 years old,” said the report.
Graphic courtesy Millennial Action Project.
While polling has shown that younger generations trend more liberal, the millennial candidates split pretty evenly on political lines, said the report titled “Millenials On The Rise.”
“Slightly more young people are running as Democrats than as Republicans. Of the 334 candidates running for Congress who are 45 or younger, 131 are Democrats, 123 are Republicans, 46 are Libertarians, 20 are Independents or have no party preference, and 14 belong to another party,” said the report.
Younger male candidates outnumber females by about 2-to-1.
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Florida leads with the most, at 26. But even small states are getting in on the youth movement. In New Hampshire, former Trump White House staffer Karoline Leavitt, 25, is threatening to knock off Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.
The project, which works to activate young leaders to bridge the partisan divide and operates the bipartisan Congressional Future Caucus, chaired by Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), said younger voters and candidates bring a fresh view to politics.
“Despite common misconceptions about the partisanship of rising generations, Members of Congress 45 years old or younger have been scored as more bipartisan than their older peers for the last three Congresses in a row. Both Republicans and Democrats in this cohort score above the historical average for bipartisanship. As more young people join Congress, our country can anticipate leaders who are willing to work collaboratively to solve our most pressing problems,” said the report.
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