Factsheet

Young Political Leaders in North Carolina

Young Candidates for Congress 2020

Number of candidates from North Carolina 33
Average age of candidates 54.87
Number of candidates age 35 or younger 1
The youngest candidate Madison Cawthorn
born 1995
NA
running for the Republican Party
Number of female candidates 8 (24.24%)
Average age of female candidates 64.60
Average age of male candidates 52.17
Average age of Democratic candidates 60.10
Average age of Republican candidates 52.60
North Carolina Candidates for Congress 2020: Generations
Generations Number of Candidates
Boomer Generation 9
Generation X 10
Millennial Generation 2
Silent Generation 2
NA 10

Young Candidates for Congress 2018

Number of candidates from North Carolina 30
Average age of candidates 56.92
Number of candidates age 35 or younger 1
The youngest candidate Ryan Watts
born 1990
NA
running for the Democratic Party
Number of female candidates 7 (23.33%)
Average age of female candidates 67.67
Average age of male candidates 53.53
Average age of Democratic candidates 61.11
Average age of Republican candidates 55.00
North Carolina Candidates for Congress 2018: Generations
Generations Number of Candidates
Boomer Generation 11
Generation X 9
Millennial Generation 2
Silent Generation 3
NA 5

Young Elected Leaders in the 116th Congress

Number of legislators from North Carolina 14
Average age of legislators 60.00
Number of legislators age 35 or younger 0
The youngest legislator Patrick McHenry
born 1975
White
member of the Republican Party
Number of female legislators 2 (14.29%)
Average age of female legislators 75.50
Average age of male legislators 57.18
Average age of Democratic legislators 75.67
Average age of Republican legislators 55.30
North Carolina Members of the 116th Congress: Generations
Generations Number of Congressmembers
Boomer Generation 5
Generation X 6
Silent Generation 2
NA 1

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 North Carolina, data on candidates 2020 is 69.70 % complete, data on candidates 2018 is 83.33 % complete, and we have 92.86 % of birthyears for Congressmembers.