Gen-Z vs. The Gerontocracy
The government of the United States is run by old people. The median age of voting members of the House of Representatives is now 57.5 years while the Senate’s median age is 64.7 years. Meanwhile, the median age in the United States as of 2024 is 38.5 years. Put simply, the United States is a gerontocracy that does not accurately represent its people.
Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein has been documenting the U.S. gerontocracy since August of 2024, reporting on the death of congressman from New Jersey, Bill Pascrell Jr. The then 87-year-old died of complications from a fever in the midst of running for a fifteenth term in Congress. His passing came roughly a year after 90-year-old Senator and chair of the Judiciary Committee Diane Feinstein died in office, leaving the crucial committee without a leader. But these deaths aren’t a result of just a few old congresspeople here and there; nearly a quarter of the members of Congress are now over the age of 70.
On December 17, 2024, the Democratic party chose 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly to be the top Democrat in charge of the House Oversight Committee, a watchdog role that would oversee investigations into public corruption and wrongdoing over the next two years. Clearly, this is a pivotal role to hold in the midst of a second Trump administration. Shortly after Rep. Connolly was re-elected in the 2024 elections, and before being chosen to head Oversight, he disclosed that he was in poor health – Connolly had esophageal cancer, a form of cancer with an extremely low survival rate. The Democratic party, in a nearsighted bureaucratic decision, appointed someone with less than five years to live, largely on the basis of seniority and over 35-year-old “progressive star” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Unsurprisingly, on May 21, 2025, less than six months after being appointed to head the critical Oversight Committee, Rep. Gerry Connolly died. He became the third congressperson to die in office this year and the sixth in just over a year.
On December 22, 2024, The Dallas Express reported that 81-year-old U.S. Congresswoman Kay Granger is secretly residing in an assisted living facility. Our Congress cannot work to improve the lives of Americans if the members are incapable of taking care of themselves, or worse, experiencing questionable cognitive function. But while some members of Congress, like now-deceased Gerry Connolly, believe they are entitled to positions of power based on seniority, 80-year-old Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois decided it was time to “pass the torch” in April of this year. Other Democrats, assuming they care about the long-term viability of their party, should do the same.
Democrats have been complacent and ignorant in the face of an aging party. David Hogg, a 25-year-old Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, who rose to prominence during the “March For Our Lives” movement, recently called out his party for being “asleep at the wheel.” In response, instead of taking this criticism into account, a DNC panel recommended a new election be held to replace Hogg.
Like Hogg, many people want to see the Democratic party make improvements. Yet, when someone inside the party openly calls for change, the party’s reaction is to find ways to silence them or remove them altogether. The Democratic Party clearly has an age problem, and its leadership will need to make fundamental changes if they want the long-term support of Gen-Z.
A New Kind of Candidate
On March 24, 2025, 26 year-old Kat Abughazaleh announced her bid to run for Congress in Illinois’ ninth district. After what she saw as Democratic capitulation to Donald Trump, she decided someone needed to “grow a [redacted] spine.” Abughazaleh believes “there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be able to afford housing, groceries, and healthcare.” These aren’t radical beliefs; nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the government should ensure healthcare coverage. Unlike many current Democrats in power, Abughazaleh claims she will not cower to Trump. She has spent most of her career reporting on the far-right as a journalist and has endured many subsequent attacks from them, even being deposed by Elon Musk’s lawyers over “mean tweets.”
Kat Abughazaleh’s key issues are right in line with what progressive Gen-Zers have been fighting for: climate change, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections, anti-authoritarianism, and healthcare, among others. Abughazaleh believes “it’s time for Democrats to do more” and is running on a platform to make that happen.
Interestingly, Abughazaleh would have been primarying 81-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has held the position since 1999 (the year Kat was born). However, after Sen. Dick Durban announced he will not be seeking reelection, Shakawsky followed suit, paving the way for young Democrats to inject new blood into the party.
Additionally, 25-year-old Deja Foxx is running for Arizona’s seventh Congressional district. She is running on a similar platform to Abughazaleh, one that focuses on defending education and defending abortion rights, improving healthcare, housing security, climate justice, and fighting executive overreach.
Foxx was raised by a single mom in Section 8 housing and survived off of Medicaid and SNAP benefits, representing the upbringing of many young working class Americans. She believes families like these “deserve a champion” in Washington that can represent, advocate for, and implement changes that working class families desperately need.
Other aging Democrats should take note that they can no longer campaign on being the lesser evil between Democrats and Republicans. Young people are desperate for material change that positively impacts their lives.
Both these candidates’ platforms paint a clear picture: Gen-Z wants adequate and affordable healthcare, protection of women through reproductive rights, access to affordable housing, and representatives in Congress who will fight against political corruption. If aging Democrats want to remain in their positions of power, they will need to start paying attention to these priorities, or make room for and uplift those who will.
There is a new age of candidates who are willing to fight to improve the lives of their constituents, and not waste time appeasing massive corporate donors and billionaires (both Abughazaleh and Foxx are completely grass-roots funded and take no money from corporate PACs).
Gen-Zers are primed to be these candidates, not because they are better or more radical than other generations, but because simply existing under our current system has pushed them to prioritize what needs to be done. As Deja Foxx puts it: "I didn’t pick politics, politics picked me."
Gen-Z vs. Millennials?
Still, there is no shortage of Millennial candidates who are fighting to improve the lives of everyday Americans. Millennial candidate for New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced his candidacy in November of 2024 and quickly gained popularity amongst both Gen-Z and Millennials. As of May 28, 2025, Mamdani is within 10 points of rival candidate Andrew Cuomo, the previous New York Governor who the Department of Justice concluded sexually harassed thirteen women. While Mamdani is not a member of Gen-Z, he is the spry age of 33 and right around the median age of Americans, an age demographic desperate for more representation in government. Regardless of which generation they belong to, principled progressive candidates are worthy of Gen-Z’s backing.
(If you are a New York City resident, the Democratic Primaries will be held on June 24, 2025. You can verify your registration status or register to vote following these steps.)
RE: Ageism
Although critiques of our current gerontocracy focus on age, we must not hide behind “ageism” as a shield against holding politicians accountable. Pointing out when politicians are no longer able to properly represent their constituents isn’t ageism. It is not ageist to assert that candidates SHOULD be able to function cognitively. Political leadership needs to be in touch with their constituents, as their positions of power and subsequent decisions impact the lives of tens of thousands of people. In any private corporate environment, if someone was falling asleep on the job, or missing key aspects of their job (like voting), they would be undeniably ill-suited for their position. Our government cannot function if the people running it can’t do their jobs. This assertion is not about barring older people from positions of power in government, it is about creating an accurate democratic representation of the people. Can we even say we are in a “democracy” if the demographics of those in power don’t align with the country-wide age demographics?
Of course, we shouldn’t blindly support everyone who happens to belong to Gen-Z. But it is crucial that we vote people into positions of power who not only have a plan on how to serve the majority of Americans, but the physical ability to enact it. It is past time that America’s gerontocracy comes to an end.