As the Democrats face how to recover from their losses in November, an uncomfortable question has emerged in California, the state that has established trends for the party.
Are your leaders simply too old?
Some party activists, pointing out several examples in which they say that leaders remained in power for a long time they fit their best moment, because to remove the political keys of state and local offices at a certain age.
The idea, initiated by the Democrats of San Francisco in a resolution, will be considered by the state party when he celebrates his convention at the end of this month. He thought that a symbolic search is largely, the fact that the conversation is taking place at all is notable in a place known for the rejection that are the major leaders.
California is the state of Dianne Feinstein, who died in office at 90 years in 2023. He is also the home of Jerry Brown, who served two terms as governor in his 70 years; Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, who is 85 years old; and Barbara Lee, the former congressman who was elected last month as mayor of Oakland at the age of 78.
Not all those leaders have caused concern, and some have had significant achievements at the end of life, bringing the gravity and strength that can come with experience.
But many Democrats still repent that Senator Feinstein goes back in office long after the important health problems became evident and asked questions about their ability to concentrate and make decisions.
They also remember their dismay about the decision of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg not to give up the Supreme Court while President Barack Obama was in office. She died at 87 late in President Trump’s first mandate, giving her the opportunity to replace her with conservative justice.
But it was former President Joseph R. Biden who put the issue in the foreground last year, when he was campaigning at 81. Many Democrats believe Hey waited too much to retire, stealing the time game to set up an effective effort to overcome Mr. Trump.
“We simply act as if it did not happen and as if we are not going to make changes as results,” said Eric Kingsbury, a San Francisco Democrat, about Mr. Biden’s decline. “They all saw it with their own eyes, and a lot of people told them what they didn’t see the truth.”
Mr. Kingsbury, 36, is a member of the central committee of the little -known but local Democratic County of San Francisco from San Francisco. He said he wrote the resolution as a direct response to which Mr. Biden stayed in the race too long and some democrats who seonten not willing to discuss how to clear the way for younger candidates.
His resolution asked to explore a mandatory retirement age for all the leaders chosen and designated at the state and local level, but not federal positions such as Congress. In particular, not specifically a particular age.
The proposal approved last month, but only after a heated conversation. Some opponents pointed out that Senator Bernie Sanders, an 83 -year -old independent of Vermont, is one of the few leaders who energize the left now.
“He is offensive,” said Connie Chan, 46, a member of the San Francisco Supervisors Board and the local party committee that voted No. “is Ageism. It is discrimination against people who have experience.”
The resolution will be among the hundreds considered by the California Democratic Party in its convention this month, but may not advance very far. Even if he does, he would take a state law, approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor, to impose an age limit.
If that was ever fruity, California would be the first state to force state and local politicians to retire at a certain age. Thirty -one states, but not the Judges of the Force of California to retire. The most common limit is 70, although Vermont allows judges to serve up to 90.
Age is not just a democratic concern. Last year, voters in North Dakota, a state led by Republicans, contributed a measure that prohibited candidates from applying for Congress if they turned 81 years or more by the end of the year before the end of their mandate. But the measure did not affect state and local offices, and it was likely to face a legal challenge if an octogenarian candidate demand.
In 2023, the Republicans also raised Conerns after Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader at that time at 81, physically frozen while taking questions at the news conferences.
There are already federal policies that require mandatory retirement for occupations that require an intense approach. Airline pilots must be withdrawn at 65, air traffic drivers must generally withdraw at 56 and military officers must generally depart at 64.
Of course, the person on the federal executive branch does not face a retirement age. While he focused so much on Mr. Biden last year, many Democrats rushed to point out that Trump will have 82 for when his term ends.
“There should be concern about the age of Donald Trump,” said Scott Wiener, a 54 -year -old Democratic Senator from San Francisco who believes that the president is ravages in the economy and international relations. Recently, they refrained from the vote of the Central Committee on age resolution.
Beyond California, David Hogg, the 25 -year -old political activist who survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and is now the vice president of the National Democratic Committee, said Democrats must cancel the “culture of seniority politicians.” Through a separate organization, we deserve, it has promised to spend $ 20 million to support the younger primary candidates against older and entrenched Democrats.
The representative Rost Khanna, 48, Democrat of California, has long urged a generational change in politics, and praised Senator Dick Durbin, 80, or Illinois for his “wisdom” in the recent decision not to see another term.
Americans seem to support the idea of a mandatory retirement age for offices holders. A 2023 PEW Research Center survey, before Mr. Biden’s age made clear, found that 79 percent of the age limits of favor of Americans for elected officials in Washington, and 74 percent favor them for the judges of the Supreme Court.
Some residents in northern California said that a mandatory retirement age could make sense, although they recognized the delicacy of the subject. Marcele Maldonado, a 67 -year -old retiree in Dixon, California, said he believed that policies should be withdrawn by 65 to leave space for people with “fresh eyes and fresh ears.” But she was not optimistic that such mandate would happen because politicians themselves would have to address it.
In Oakland, Nicole Barratt, a 30 -year -old employee in a plant store, said it seemed strange that many professions required people to retire at 65, but the country’s leaders have no such rule.
“They are isolated very isolated after having a leg in office for a long time,” he said.
Several politicians over 70 did not return comments requests. That included Mrs. Lee, who will swear at the end of this month as mayor of Oakland, and Antonio Villarigosa, 72, a former mayor of Los Angeles who is postulated for the governor of California in the 2026 race.
John Burton, the former San Francisco congressman who resigned as president of the California Democratic Party eight years ago, said he did not like the idea of term limits or age limits. He ran into the idea that he is getting up.
“Jesus, don’t call me a major statesman,” he put himself in his characteristic spiny style. “I’ve never heard that I used to describe.”
Hey is 92.
John Laird, a 75 -year -old state senator from Santa Cruz, said that the idea of an age limit was “arbitrary and silly” and that he felt more acute and more committed than when he was chosen for the City of Santa Cruz at age 31.
He added that California term limits help solve the problem. It will be called when he is 78 years old.
“My staff was having a country day told me what to say when you call,” he said with a smile. “Wait, I can’t hear you!” And “Wait, my cardiologist is on the other line!”
Any legislation that installs an age limit, if approved, would go to the 57 -year -old Gavin Newsom governor desk, and is not a great admirer. He said that politicians need “the qualities of youth”, such as imagination and sharpness, but that these attributes do not decrease at the same age for each person.
“We all process life, physically and emotionally, a little different,” he said.
Some Democrats observed that if California had tried to impose an age limit on the members of Congress, Mrs. Pelosi would not have the second time, nor would she have exerted the influence she still has as a woman. Among his acts last year was to promote President Biden to leave race 2024.
Last month, the resolution of the San Francisco Central Committee was approved with 15 votes of Ayye, eight impressive and eight abstentions.
A member of the committee could have felt stronger than others.
Mrs. Pelosi, through a representative, cast a vote against the age limit. She has not yet said if she will run for another period next year.
Coral Murphy Marcos Oakland contributed reports, California.
