Democrats’ Safest Senate Seats Dominated by the Elderly
Democrats have an age problem they need to address
As I was scrolling through Twitter the other day, I saw that Democratic Representative Kweisi Mfume announced his intention to run for ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.
Some of you might remember that committee as the one AOC tried to chair as ranking member but lost to Gerry Connolly, a 75-year-old representative who had been diagnosed with cancer at the time of his election to the post.
Mfume is relevant here because he himself is 76 years old—highlighting how many senior members continue to fill the Democratic ranks well into their retirement years. That got me thinking: What is the age breakdown of the Democratic caucus, and how does it compare to the rest of the country?
I decided to start with the Senate, given it’s much smaller than the House side of the Democratic Party. (But if y’all are interested enough in this, maybe I’ll sit down and do the House side as well.)
Among the 45 Democratic Senators (I’m not including King or Bernie here), 20% are over the age of 75, with the oldest being Dick Durbin (IL), who’s still going strong at a youthful 80.
Another 31% of Senate Democrats are between 65–74, which includes folks like Chuck Schumer and John Hickenlooper. For context, among Americans over 35, only 18% fall into that age range.
22% of Democratic Senators are between 56–64, which closely mirrors the 23% of Americans over 35 who are in that same age group. Think of people like Kirsten Gillibrand and Mark Kelly here.
Those between 46–55 make up 20% of the Senate Democrats, nearly identical to the 22% of Americans over 35 in that bracket. In this group, you’ll find Senators like Elissa Slotkin and Angela Alsobrooks.
Finally, just 7% of Senate Democrats are between 35–45, compared to 24% of the U.S. population over 35. There are only three Democrats in this youngest bracket: Ruben Gallego, Jon Ossoff, and Andy Kim.
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The main reason I looked into this age breakdown was to understand how many elderly Democrats occupy the party’s safest Senate seats. The results were unsurprising, yet still a bit disheartening.
Of the 25 Senate seats in states considered safe for Democrats, 32% of the Senators are over 75, and another 24% are between 65–74. That means only 44% of Democrats in safe seats are under the age of 64, which really highlights who ends up in those comfortable, long-term positions.
There are another 10 Democrats from what I call In-Between States—states likely to stay Democratic but not fully safe (think Colorado or Minnesota). Among these 10, seven are over 65, and one is in the 56–64 range.
Where Democrats are relatively younger is in swing states. Again, we’re looking at 10 Democratic Senators in competitive seats, and none are over the age of 75.
Among these swing-state Democrats, half are under 55, and another third fall between 56–64.
I made a similar point in an article earlier this month about how Democrats need to address some of their party’s biggest challenges if they want to succeed long-term, including getting more young people involved and challenging elderly incumbents in safe seats.
The party needs younger, more progressive leaders in safe seats who can loudly champion the Democratic message, something members in tight races may not be able to do as boldly.
AOC is a prime example of this, having won her seat with 69% of the vote in 2024, and being one of the most vocal Democrats in the party.