Left-wing activists ready to seize baton of power from party elders

A revolution is building inside the Democratic Party.

Left-wing activists are noticing a growing number of young Democrats disenchanted with the party’s older leaders. The younger Democrats say the old guard isn’t solving the country’s problems and doesn’t share their increasingly favorable views of socialist policies.

“Americans have long been ready for the political revolution [that Sen. Bernard] Sanders has talked about, but the party and the D.C. elite haven’t been,” wrote Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, which works to elect young, far-left Democrats.

“Aside from the many polls that highlight the national popularity of Sanders and the policies he supports over the last eight years, voters have made it abundantly clear that it’s time to usher in a new generation of leaders who won’t act like doormats for Trump and Elon Musk,” she wrote this year. “They see this party — just like our government and our economy — as captured by the wealthy few.”

The Democratic Party’s image eroded to its lowest point in more than 30 years, with 63% of voters expressing an unfavorable view, according to a Wall Street Journal poll in July.

David Dix, a political strategist who co-founded Luminous Strategies, said young Democrats are “fed up” with the party’s aging leaders.

“Batons are never passed; they’re taken,” Mr. Dix said. “This idea that one generation sees its time is going to end and it’s going to pass a baton of power to the next generation is a fallacy.”

He called for a national conversation about “what succession and leadership looks like” for the young Democrats destined to inherit the party.

Young people turned out in droves to elect democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York. Exit polls showed that 75% of voters ages 18-29 voted for Mr. Mamdani.

Mr. Mamdani has become the face of the socialist revolution within the party. Other rising stars come from Congress’ far-left “Squad,” including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 36, of New York, Summer Lee, 37, of Pennsylvania and Greg Casar, 36, of Texas.

A September poll from Data for Progress, a left-wing think tank, found that more than half of likely Democratic voters prefer socialist-aligned politicians, such as Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Sanders and Mr. Mamdani, over Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York.

Mac McCorkle, a Sanford School of Public Policy professor and a former Democratic consultant, noted a leadership congestion in Congress.

“There gets to be a kind of myth of indispensability, like we’re the only ones who understand,” Mr. McCorkle said. “Most older generations think the younger generations don’t understand.”

The “indispensability” dynamic was, in some ways, in play when President Biden sought reelection as an octogenarian. It also thrust the age issue for lawmakers into the spotlight and prompted a new round of calls for term limits.

Mr. Biden was 81 when his reelection run came to a disastrous early end, with his mental fitness called into question. He was forced to drop out of the race, and his vice president, Kamala Harris, took his place atop the ticket just months before the election, only to be handily defeated by President Trump.

“It’s going to be increasingly difficult for older Democrats who have been around for a while to justify their continued running for election,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who spent 21 years of his career in the Senate and served as a top aide to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

“For many years, I was against term limits, a strong believer in the seniority system, and felt that with age comes wisdom,” he said. “I’m not so sure I agree with all those anymore. I still believe that with age comes wisdom. But given how poorly some Senate Democratic leaders have dealt with this issue over the years, I think there needs to be changes.”

Competitive primaries are most often launched when an older leader of the party retires or dies in office, said Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of Run for Something.

“It is telling that when an older Democratic leader retires (or, sadly, dies), a competitive primary with lots and lots of interesting candidates emerges — the gerontocracy’s selfish belief that ~they alone can lead~ is immediately proven false!” she wrote on social media.

The Democratic Party has long relied on young voters to boost its candidates. Now, the establishment is struggling to keep millennials and Generation Z engaged and motivated to support party elders.

By contrast, Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA amassed a considerable following of college-age conservatives, and his death spurred more chapters at colleges across the country.

TPUSA was a “response to the need” of Republicans to attract young people, Mr. Dix said, and Democrats are falling short of responding to their party’s needs.

“I don’t see that equivalent on the Democrat side, and that can be kind of a presumption that that voter base is just going to go their way,” he said. “But I think you can tell in recent elections that they can’t just be so sure about that, and they need to build that infrastructure if they’re going to be serious about engaging that community.”

The party has leaned heavily on celebrity involvement. That was on display in July 2024 at the Democratic National Convention, where stars such as Stevie Wonder, Maren Morris, Pink and John Legend performed. That star power apparently is not as effective in reaching the younger generation as it once was.

“We as Democrats for many years did a very poor job of grooming our up-and-coming leaders,” Mr. Manley said. “That’s changing slowly but surely. We still have a ways to go.”