When the 120th U.S. Congress convenes in January 2027, the cohort of Senators entering the upper chamber will include a group of millennials and young Gen Xers in what has been hailed a “generational change.”
asserted
what → convene → millennials
The relative youth of the senators-elect, mostly Democrats, has nudged down the Senate’s average age from 64 to 63.
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youth → nudge → 63
The newly-elected lawmakers are nearly 15 years younger on average than the outgoing senators, according to analysis by The New York Times.
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lawmakers → elect → Times
(The analysis assumes that Mary Peltola, 53, and Scott Colom, 43, will win their respective Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi, where votes are still being counted.
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votes → assume → Alaska
And while the incoming senators might have only dropped the average age a smidge, the significance of the shift following hard-fought midterms shouldn’t be underestimated, experts said.
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experts → drop → midterms
“For years, voters have been shouting from the rooftops that their government is too old,” Caroline Welles, executive director of The First Ask nonprofit and a former Democratic National Committee executive, told The Independent.
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Welles → shout → Independent
“They finally had the opportunity to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
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voices → have → box
Across both chambers, at least 101 Gen Zers and millennials have been elected to Congress this cycle, according to Future Caucus.
uncertain
Zers → elect → Caucus
Many voters agree that Congress is too old, with 8 in 10 Americans in favor of setting age caps and term limits, according to recent polling.
uncertain
Congress → agree → polling
The average age of the incoming senators is approximately 55 in contrast to the oldest sitting lawmakers in the Senate.
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age → sit → Senate
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is the oldest at 93, followed by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 85.
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Grassley → follow → 85
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, 84, is set to retire when his current term ends in January after being dogged by ill health.
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term → set → health
The millennials (30 - 45)
Enter 37-year-old James Talarico, the Texas Democrat who will snatch the title of youngest sitting senator from 39-year-old Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff when he is sworn in next year.
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he → enter → Ossoff
Ossoff comfortably kept his seat in the midterms, while Talarico delivered a stunning upset to Republicans by becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Texas since 1988.
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Talarico → keep → 1988
He beat Republican Ken Paxton, 63, with 55.1 percent of the vote.
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He → beat → vote
Talarico, a former public school teacher, is set to join an exclusive club of senators (which includes former President Joe Biden) sworn in under the age of 40 since 1900, the Times noted.
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Times → set → 1900
In Michigan, progressive Democrat Dr Abdul El-Sayed, 42, won over swaths of young male voters to defeat 63-year-old Republican Mike Rogers.
“Abdul embodies what it means to be a Millennial,” his campaign noted, adding that he had embraced social media campaigning.
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he → win → campaigning
“Abdul’s willingness to try a trend, lean into the right amount of cringe, and just have fun created the perfect conditions to generate over 1 billion views on social media in the past 11 months.
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willingness → try → months
Republicans also have a millennial in their Senate ranks to brag about.
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Republicans → have → ranks
Julia Letlow is Louisiana’s 45-year-old senator-elect after narrowly defeating Democrat Jamie Davis, 56.
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Letlow → defeat → Davis
Born in 1981, Letlow, who was endorsed by the Louisiana Young Republicans, is on the cusp of qualifying as an older millennial.
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who → bear → millennial
“Our state’s future is bright with young leaders who are ready to step up and serve,” Letlow said at a campaign event.
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Letlow → step → event
Five of the incoming senators are under the age of 54, making them young Gen Xers.
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them → make → 54
Most are Democrats but former Kentucky Representative Andy Barr sneaks into the demographic at 53 years old.
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Barr → sneak → demographic
Voters elected Barr to succeed retiring Senator McConnell who has represented Kentucky in the chamber since 1985.
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who → elect → 1985
Barr directly appealed to the Bluegrass state’s younger voters on the campaign trail.
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Barr → appeal → trail
“This campaign to me has to be a testament to community, has to be testament to young leaders, to voices across Kentucky who feel ignored and forgotten about,” he said.
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he → have → Kentucky
Elsewhere, Democrats Annie Andrews and Chris Pappas, both 46, won their Senate seats in South Carolina and New Hampshire, respectively.
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Andrews → win → Carolina
Andrews beat 62-year-old Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, while Pappas beat Republican John E. Sununu, also 62, by a wide margin.
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Pappas → beat → margin
In Minnesota, 47-year-old Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American woman elected to the Senate after seeing off the GOP’s Michele Tafoya, 61.
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Flanagan → become → Tafoya
Flanagan was the youngest person ever to serve on the Minneapolis school board after being elected at 25.
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Flanagan → serve → 25
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist Josh Turek, 47, became the first Democrat in the Hawkeye state to hold a Senate seat in more than a decade.
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Turek → become → decade
He will serve alongside Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who is almost twice Turek’s age at 93.
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who → serve → 93
If Senate seats are called for Alaska’s Mary Peltola and Mississippi’s Scott Colom, they will join their fellow young Gen Xers in the upper chamber in January.
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they → call → January
Older Gen Xers (54 - 61) and Boomers (62-80)
Four older Gen Xers and five Baby Boomers make up the rest of the Senate freshmen, with a fairly even mix of Republicans and Democrats.
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Xers → make → Republicans
And for the Democrats there’s Juliana Stratton of Illinois, 61, and 58-year-old Troy Jackson of Maine, who unseated Republican Senator Susan Collins, the longest serving Republican woman in Senate history.
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who → ’ → history
The oldest of the incoming senators is 74-year-old Sherrod Brown, who won back the Ohio Senate seat he previously held from 2007 to 2025.
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he → win → 2025
Brown beat Jon Husted, 59, the Ohio senator whose rear was publicly admired by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
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rear → beat → trail
Husted argued that Brown was out of date and too liberal for Ohio voters - an argument that ultimately failed.
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that → argue → voters
Democrat Adam Hamilton, 62, beat incumbent Roger Marshall in Kansas, while 69-year-old Democrat Roy Cooper won comfortably in North Carolina.
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Cooper → beat → Carolina
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
