Democrat Voters Replacing Old Guard Far Faster Than GOP

August 13, 2026 12:55 PM ET Younger Democratic candidates have defeated older incumbents in primaries across the U.S., while older Republicans have mostly held onto their seats. The younger candidates largely defeated long-time incumbents on the Democratic side who were past retirement age. While Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Colorado, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, John Larson of Connecticut and Adriano Espaillat of New York, who are all past retirement age, lost their races to challengers decades younger than them, older Republicans have had fewer problems holding onto power. Larson, a 78-year-old who has served in Congress since 1999, lost his primary by more than 20 percentage points to 47-year-old former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. He suffered a highly publicized freeze-up on the Hous