Young Democrats eye Congress with affordability at the top of their agenda

A new generation of young progressive Democrats could enter Congress next year with a deeply personal connection to the economic issues at the center of their campaigns — and a desire to make those policy items a bigger part of the party’s agenda.

For many of these potential lawmakers, the inability to afford a house and rising healthcare costs are some of the top issues that have shaped their own lives and those of their peers. That firsthand experience, they argue, has given younger Democrats a different sense of urgency around challenges that have become increasingly difficult for their generation to navigate. 

“I am a millennial. Many of the colleagues that are being are running right now and being elected across the country right now are millennials,” said 36-year-old Claire Valdez, the Democratic nominee running to represent New York’s 7th Congressional District. 

“We have seen our futures foreclosed upon us. You know, we can’t imagine having children or buying houses or retiring in the future, and that’s a kind of like frustration and dissatisfaction among young people all over the country that needs to be heard — that needs to be heard in the halls of power,” she added. 

But that mandate could run up against the realities of Congress, where seniority, relationships and institutional knowledge still carry considerable weight. 

That could create an early test for both the incoming lawmakers and Democratic leadership: Younger members will have to learn to navigate an institution where policy expertise and procedural rules matter, while party leaders will have to decide how much influence to give a new generation eager to make its mark.

“I think the younger members are going to come in and try to change Congress, and the older members are going to have the perspective of come in and do not let the Congress change you,” said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright. “And … I think perspective, patience are going to be the two — and process — are........

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