Young Democrats are launching primary challenges against long-serving incumbents after frustrating encounters and perceived establishment inertia. Candidates including Liam Elkind, Everton Blair and Jake Rakov cite dismissive responses from incumbents Jerry Nadler, David Scott and Brad Sherman and say the party has failed to act urgently against Trump's threats. Concerns about age and fitness following the 2024 presidential campaign have accelerated demand for generational change. Insurgents emphasize social-media skills, grassroots energy and modern communications, arguing that party elders have not adapted tactics or priorities to defend Democratic voters, cities and values.
Nadler's response, according to Elkind, was to donate to the DCCC the group that helps House Democrats keep their seats. Deeply unsatisfied, the 26-year-old decided to run for office against the 17-term incumbent. In Georgia, Everton Blair also sought answers from his long-serving congressman, David Scott, at a panel event earlier this year. When Blair asked him about Democrats' legislative strategy, the 80-year-old lawmaker was dismissive. I don't know who sent y'all, he said.
Jake Rakov began to worry when he noticed his former boss, 70-year-old California congressman Brad Sherman, repeating the same anti-Trump talking points he'd deployed eight years prior. To Rakov, 37, it was a sign that the Democratic party's ageing establishment wasn't going to learn. He is now one of two millennial-aged Jakes challenging Sherman. Jake Rakov. Photograph: Courtesy of Jake Rakov A year after Joe Biden's age
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