LAUREN FRAYER, HOST:
Many members of Congress do not face competitive primaries, but as NPR's Elena Moore reports, that may change next year.
ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Around the country, a growing group of Democrats in their 20s and 30s are launching campaigns for Congress, and their announcements have a shared theme.
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GEORGE HORNEDO: These do-nothing Democrats? It's time for leadership that puts the people first.
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JAKE RAKOV: Democrats in Washington need backbone, courage, innovation and, yes, some fire in the belly.
MOORE: Their goal - unseating Democratic incumbents in the House of Representatives and replacing them with new voices. California's Jake Rakov is one of those candidates. The 37-year-old political strategist is running to represent the state's 32nd Congressional District, part of Los Angeles County. He's challenging 15-term incumbent Brad Sherman, who Rakov worked for in 2017.
RAKOV: It's not an age thing. I think it's become an age thing just because the people who have been there for so long are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s. I would love to go back and ask him at 40, do you think you'll still be doing this at 70? And I'd love to hear that answer 'cause I - honestly, I don't think he would say yes.
MOORE: Rakov says millennial and Gen Zers see the future much differently than older generations. He says it's a worldview born out of multiple events that have defined their early adult lives. For Rakov, he remembers graduating college in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
RAKOV: If that's my kind of experience, when I'm in Congress, I'm going to legislate with that mind view.
MOORE: Many of his key policies are also designed to draw contrast with his former boss. He's pledging to hold in-person town halls each month and says Sherman hasn't been active enough in the district, though the congressman says he's held well over 200 town halls during his nearly 30-year tenure. Rakov is also advocating for term limits, capping House members at 10 years.
RAKOV: We will never change anything if we do not change who we send to D.C. And if we can't have these honest-to-god conversations with ourselves as a party in our safest seats, how do we expect to have that conversation with voters in swing districts?
MOORE: Thirty-four-year-old George Hornedo is pushing a similar message.
HORNEDO: We need to get rid of this allegiance to outdated concepts like incumbency and seniority, and we need to think about how do we lift up the best candidates.
MOORE: Hornedo has done stints in the Obama administration and Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign. Now he's challenging incumbent Andre Carson for Indiana's 7th Congressional District. Carson has held the seat since 2008, but Hornedo says he's coasted for too long. He points out that Carson has repeatedly lagged behind most of his Democratic colleagues in getting legislation passed, including in recent years where Democrats had a majority in the House.
HORNEDO: This community does not care about legacy. This community is looking for action.
MOORE: The congressman defends his time in office and says he's brought over $1 billion back to the district. But with a resume in both national politics and local organizing, Hornedo says he's right for the job.
AMANDA LITMAN: We know that there is appetite for new leadership. And voters are going to get a chance to make a choice.
MOORE: Amanda Litman is the founder of Run for Something, a group that helps first-time Democratic candidates run for state and local office. She supports new candidates primarying incumbent Democrats, but she also has a word of caution.
LITMAN: To take on an incumbent elected official is a really big task. It's why most people don't do it, because it's nearly impossible.
MOORE: She says these lawmakers typically have a leg up, from access to large fundraising networks and a bully pulpit to just more practice. There have been exceptions, like in 2018, when New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off a major upset. So it's possible. But, Litman says, for every AOC, there were dozens of candidates who couldn't take out the incumbent.
Elena Moore, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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