When Are You Too Old to Run for the Senate?

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)

After three cycles where the Democrats have largely avoided having too many retirements, the gloves appear to have come off a bit going into 2024.  This past week, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D), first elected in 2000, became the first Democrat to announce that she would retire at the end of her current term (on the Republican side Ben Sasse has resigned from the Senate & Mike Braun has announced his intention to run for governor).  She won't be the last.  Sens. Bernie Sanders, Tom Carper, & Kyrsten Sinema are all on retirement watchlists, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein is so expected to retire that Rep. Katie Porter (D) this morning announced she'd be running for Feinstein's seat.

I don't, personally, think this is a bad thing for Democrats, and I'm going to be honest-in an era where Democratic grassroots fundraising is as robust as it is, I'm personally hoping for a lot of Senate retirements.  I think pundits are wrong, and honestly feel a bit gleeful at the prospect of someone like Stabenow retiring and claiming it hurts the Democrats' chances.  Stabenow, though certainly a fine public servant, is not a beloved figure in her state in the way that someone like Bob Casey or Amy Klobuchar are, nor is she the only person who can win this seat in the way that Jon Tester or Susan Collins are in their states.  She's replaceable, and in a year that looks like it should be even-keel for Democrats, we should jump at the opportunity to replace her with a new incumbent.  Quite frankly, I'm hopeful that she starts a trend-I'd love to see Sanders, Carper, Feinstein, and even Angus King (who has indicated he's running but I don't think it's been made official yet) all retire so that we can use what should be a fair cycle for us on a presidential level to hold these seats, so we have incumbents headed into 2030.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI)

What I wanted to talk about, however, is two women that are rumored for the seats specifically in Michigan & California, both having either floated their own names or clearly having their surrogates talk about them: Reps. Debbie Dingell & Barbara Lee.  These women, despite being progressive members of Congress, got to that body in completely different ways.  Lee, a Black single mother who once volunteered on Bobby Seale's campaign in Oakland when she was a member of the Black Panthers, has held public office since 1990 when she first joined the California State Assembly, and has one of the most liberal voting records in Congress, where she's served since 1998.  Dingell, on the other hand, grew up the heiress to an automotive fortune, and was a Republican until she married her husband John Dingell, the longtime congressman from Michigan whose seat she ran for and won in 2015 in what was criticized by some as a coronation.  Like Lee, she has amassed a progressive record in Congress, though not quite as liberal as Lee's.

What's noteworthy about these women, and what they most have in common is something you aren't supposed to talk about in politics but is clearly there-their age.  Lee is 76 and Dingell will turn 70 this November, just three years younger than Stabenow, whom she'd be running to succeed.  There is of course no age limit in Congress, and recently we've seen people like Mitt Romney & Peter Welch elected into the Senate while in their seventies.  This isn't only a Democratic trend this year-former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who is 73, is actively looking at running for Braun's seat.

But this conversation comes at a time when Millennials & Gen Z are asking "when is it going to be my turn?"  Until a few weeks ago, the Democratic Party was run by Joe Biden (80), Nancy Pelosi (82), and Chuck Schumer (72).  At some point, it needs to be admitted that the next generation should be able to not only have a voice in politics, but they should have the power as well.  This conversation becomes dicey because there's ageism involved, but it used to be a bit of grace came with politics.  While incumbents ran forever, it would've been seen as silly for someone like Peter Welch to become a freshman senator at age 75.  There are plenty of younger Democrats in these states.  People like Reps. Katie Porter & Elissa Slotkin are under 50 and very valid statewide in California & Michigan.  This is something that feels like it's a grey area, but it needs to be said-it's time for opportunities like this to go to a new generation of leaders in Congress.  Lee & Dingell are fine public servants, and they can stay on in the House if they like, but I feel like asking their voters to give them one last promotion when most people their age have been collecting social security for a decade feels selfish.  At some point you have to hand off power-that's how democracy is supposed to work.