Democrats Begin to Confront Their Age Problem in Primary Campaigns
9th April 2025
Politico, a Voice of the Crust.
A new crop of Democratic candidates is trying to turn the midterms into a referendum on age and complacency in their party’s ranks.
In recent weeks, Jake Rakov, a 37-year-old former staffer to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, announced he is challenging his onetime boss, lambasting the 70-year-old, 15-term incumbent for not doing enough when the district was engulfed by wildfires. Progressive YouTuber Kat Abughazaleh, 26, is taking on 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, declaring that the party desperately needs to “change the establishment.” Saikat Chakrabarti, the 39-year-old former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), is going up against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying, “we are living in a totally different America than the one she knew when she entered politics 45 years ago.”
And on Wednesday, George Hornedo, a 34-year-old who went viral on TikTok for his comments about a “party elder” discouraging him from mounting a Democratic primary bid in Indiana, announced he is running against eighth-term Democratic Rep. Andre Carson.