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Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party speaks after Democrat Josh Stein won the North Carolina governor's race, in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., November 5, 2024.

REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

Young Democrats look to bulldoze the old guard ahead of the midterms

As the Democrats start plotting their fight back into power in the 2026 midterms, Anderson Clayton has a suggestion about who should lead that fight.

“Young people have the energy and the mobility to reshape the party in ways which older generations, quite frankly, are not interested in.”

Clayton speaks with authority on this matter. At 27 years old, the North Carolina native is the country's youngest state party chair. She won the highest organizational position in the swing-state’s Democratic Party at 25.

And others are looking to follow her lead. In recent weeks, a handful of young Democrats have announced that they will be primarying powerful incumbents like 85-year old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and 70-year old Rep. Brad Sherman – to name a few. The challengers are former staffers and progressive influencers in their 20s who say the party’s establishment is too old and out of touch to stand up to Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling our country piece by piece, and so many Democrats seem content to sit back and let them,” says 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh from behind an oversized podcast microphone as she announces her Congressional campaign via TikTok. “It’s time to drop the excuses and grow a f*cking spine.”

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a picture with Jordynn Dudley, soccer player at Florida State University, Lynda Tealer, senior vice president of championships at NCAA, and members of the women and men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion teams, in Kamala's first public appearance since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, on the South Lawn of the White House, Washington, U.S., July 22, 2024.

REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Bloc by Bloc: How the youth and senior votes will influence the US election

This GZERO 2024 election series looks at America’s changing voting patterns, bloc by bloc.

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“Holy shit. Biden’s out,” I heard an older man in front of me at the airport say on Sunday, July 21. At JFK’s Terminal 4 – where people don’t even stop to tie their shoes – Joe Biden’s announcement of his withdrawal from the presidential race stopped travelers in their tracks.

In the week since, Biden’s move seems to have breathed new life into the campaign, with Democrats raising over $200 million in campaign donations in just a few days. Vice President Kamala Harris quickly won endorsements from the party’s senior leaders to become the presumptive Democratic nominee.

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Two students occupying Hamilton Hall on Columbia's Campus

Will Hull

With summer looming, where will student protesters turn next?

Columbia University is under a near-total lockdown after protesters barricaded themselves in a building and took over a second lawn on campus last night. Downtown, protesters at The New School took over Parsons School of Design, and at Yale, police were called to clear an encampment that protesters have vowed to reoccupy. Meanwhile, an NYU student has reportedly chained themself to a bench and begun a hunger strike, vowing to continue until the demands of student protesters are met.
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President Joe Biden speaks as he announces a new plan for federal student loan relief during a visit to Madison Area Technical College Truax Campus, in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 8, 2024.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The battle for Gen Z

With President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau facing upcoming elections, the battle is on to capture young voters. Biden will face former President Donald Trump next November, and the next Canadian election is due by the fall of 2025, but both contests are already underway. Younger folks in both countries are turning increasingly sour on the status quo as they face affordability challenges and feel left behind.

Trudeau has expressly said his government was focusing on Gen Z and millennials, “restoring fairness for them.” And on Tuesday, his government unveiled its “Gen Z budget,” going all in on measures for parents with younger children (new cash for childcare and a school food program), students (interest-free student loans), and housing policy aimed at opening space in the market for younger buyers who’ve been shut out in recent years (with a first-time buyer, 30-year mortgage amortization period and tax breaks for home purchases).

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Supporters of Greek opposition leader of Syriza party attend a pre-election speech in Athens

Greece’s “lost generation” election

This Sunday, Greeks head to the polls for the country’s most tightly contested election in recent memory.

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