Young Democrats challenge longtime incumbents, seeking a new generation in Congress

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Democrats are pressing for generational turnover inside their own ranks, with several younger candidates challenging long-serving lawmakers as the party weighs how aggressively it can respond to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The pressure is showing up in Democratic contests that pit incumbents and other established figures against challengers who argue that age and seniority have come with diminished urgency.

In California, Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang is mounting what the Associated Press described as her first serious challenge to 81-year-old Rep. Doris Matsui, who has represented the area for two decades. The race has become a vehicle for a broader message among some younger Democrats that an aging generation of lawmakers has not been willing or able to mount a bare-knuckles approach in the Trump era.

Vang, 40, framed her bid around present-day struggles facing working families and said, “I’m not waiting for permission.” She added that “our communities are under attack” and argued that she “understand[s] the day-to-day struggles of our working families.” At a campaign stop last month near downtown Sacramento, supporters told the AP they want a younger, more energized type of leadership, including Abbie Morrissey, who said Democrats “need to find young, engaged, energetic people that understand their young, engaged and energetic populations.”

Matsui defended her record as she countered the generational argument. She said in a statement that “Experience isn’t about clinging to power” and that it is “about being effective when the stakes are highest for our families.” The AP also reported that Matsui ended 2025 with a financial advantage, reporting $785,000 in the bank compared with $200,000 for Vang.

The AP also highlighted an economic and antitrust-focused challenge in Mississippi’s Democratic primary, where Evan Turnage is challenging 78-year-old Rep. Bennie Thompson. Turnage, 33, an antitrust lawyer who previously worked for top Senate Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said Mississippi needs a representative who will fight what he views as predatory corporations in addition to securing civil rights.

Turnage argued that Democratic leaders must go beyond committee work to win transformational change, saying “Just steadily doing the committee work with your head down behind the scenes is not how we’re gonna get the transformational change that we need here in this district.” He said, “We have got to finally secure civil rights and economic rights for the people of this state,” while acknowledging Thompson’s role in the civil rights movement and asking what has been done about economic rights. The AP reported that Turnage struggled to raise significant money by the end of last year, with $54,000 compared with Thompson’s $1.7 million in his campaign account.

Thompson, who previously chaired the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said he is confident voters will judge him on his record. In response to the launch of Turnage’s campaign, Thompson told the AP, “Elections were created to give people the ability to make a choice,” and said, “I trust the voters of the district.”

In Tennessee, the AP described another contest testing the boundary between loyalty to incumbents and appetite for change. Rep. Steve Cohen, 76, is seeking an 11th term against Justin Pearson, 31, who the AP said was a sixth grader when Cohen was first elected and who later interned for Cohen. Pearson’s political history includes leadership in a gun control protest inside the Tennessee state Capitol that led to his expulsion from the state legislature, before he was reinstated and later reelected.

Pearson argued that voters should not treat age as a guarantee of effectiveness, saying, “With all due respect to Steve, he’s been in office for 43 years, and he has done the best that he can possibly do, and the status quo is still what it is.” He said “Democrats have held their party back by hanging around too long” and argued that people staying “in positions of power” can do it for themselves rather than “for the benefit of their constituencies.” The AP reported that by the end of 2025, Cohen had $1.8 million on hand and Pearson had $350,000.

Cohen responded by arguing that age should not be used as the standard for judging lawmakers. The AP reported that Cohen said he has seen significant work from lawmakers after turning 70, citing Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, as well as the late Rep. John Lewis and Elijah Cummings. Cohen also told the AP, “I’ve always been an iconoclast.”

In Connecticut, the AP said Democrats in their 30s and 40s are trying to challenge Rep. John Larson for the party’s endorsement at the state convention in May. Larson has represented the Hartford and central Connecticut-based 1st Congressional District since 1999, and his candidacy has faced intensified concerns about his health and age after he abruptly stopped speaking during a House floor speech last year and his office later said he suffered a complex partial seizure.

One challenger, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 46, is described as the leading contender, with name recognition and fundraising. The AP reported that Bronin, a lawyer and U.S. Navy Reserve officer and a Rhodes scholar, ended 2025 with $1.5 million in the bank, compared with Larson’s $1 million. Bronin told the AP that the Democratic Party’s reluctance to embrace generational change, including after President Joe Biden’s aborted reelection campaign, played a major role in his decision to challenge Larson.

Bronin said, “I’m running because I think our country is in crisis and the Democratic Party has been too weak and too cautious to meet this moment,” and added that “Part of meeting this moment means getting new members of Congress, new Democratic leaders who have the energy and courage and clarity of mission that this moment demands.” Other Democrats interviewed by the AP around the district echoed a desire for new ideas, including Dan Schnaidt, 73, and his wife Cynthia Tucker, 73, who said it was time for change.

Larson, through his campaign manager Gerry Gerratana, leaned on his progressive credentials and experience, arguing in a statement that the district does not need “another Wall Street-funded corporate lawyer using this office as a stepping stone.” Gerratana said Larson “grew up in the district, understands the challenges people face because he’s seen them firsthand, and has a proven record of taking on Trump.”

Associated Press writers reported from Jackson, Mississippi; Hartford, Connecticut; and Nashville, Tennessee, and Jonathan J. Cooper contributed from Phoenix.