Factsheet

Young Political Leaders in California

Young Candidates for Congress 2020

Number of candidates from California 106
Average age of candidates 55.26
Number of candidates age 35 or younger 9
The youngest candidate C. Antonio Delgado
born 1997
NA
running for the Republican Party
Number of female candidates 35 (33.02%)
Average age of female candidates 58.39
Average age of male candidates 53.67
Average age of Democratic candidates 56.29
Average age of Republican candidates 53.50
California Candidates for Congress 2020: Generations
Generations Number of Candidates
Boomer Generation 40
Generation X 30
Generation Z 1
Millennial Generation 12
Silent Generation 9
NA 14

Young Candidates for Congress 2018

Number of candidates from California 108
Average age of candidates 53.82
Number of candidates age 35 or younger 12
The youngest candidate Joshua Scott
born 1993
NA
running for the Republican Party
Number of female candidates 36 (33.33%)
Average age of female candidates 58.79
Average age of male candidates 51.26
Average age of Democratic candidates 55.60
Average age of Republican candidates 51.36
California Candidates for Congress 2018: Generations
Generations Number of Candidates
Boomer Generation 41
Generation X 31
Millennial Generation 17
Silent Generation 11
NA 8

Young Elected Leaders in the 116th Congress

Number of legislators from California 54
Average age of legislators 61.30
Number of legislators age 35 or younger 1
The youngest legislator Josh Harder
born 1986
White
member of the Democratic Party
Number of female legislators 19 (35.19%)
Average age of female legislators 69.11
Average age of male legislators 57.06
Average age of Democratic legislators 61.62
Average age of Republican legislators 59.14
California Members of the 116th Congress: Generations
Generations Number of Congressmembers
Boomer Generation 25
Generation X 17
Millennial Generation 1
Silent Generation 11

Visit our in-depth profile on Young Elected Leaders in the Californian State Legislature.

Notes

The Young Elected Leaders Project applies the generational categorization of the Pew Research Center:

  • Silent Generation: 1928 – 1945
  • Baby Boomer Generation: 1946 – 1964
  • Generation X: 1965 – 1980
  • Millennial Generation: 1981 – 1996
  • Generation Z: 1997 – 2012

Descriptive statistics on candidates for Congress 2018 and 2020 are based only on those candidates who passed their primaries or who ran as Independent/write-in candidates. The numbers for the 116th Congress are based on data from August 2020.

YELP collects birthday data from a variety of sources such as campaign websites, personal profiles, news articles, voter guides, and from direct contact with candidates and elected officials. However it is not always possible to find information for all. In the case of California, data on candidates 2020 is 86.79 % complete, data on candidates 2018 is 92.59 % complete, and we have 100.00 % of birthyears for Congressmembers.