The Almanac
Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Woodside
by Joby Bernstein
Some 44% of Americans are under 35, while 0.2% of Congress is under 35. Facing this reality motivated me to run for Congress at age 28 as one of the youngest candidates in America.
We millennials, although better educated, earn 20% less than our parents did at the same stage in life. Homeownership rates have plummeted, student debt is skyrocketing, and upward social mobility is decreasing. And we will bear the brunt of climate change. Is it any wonder there’s a mental health crisis?
I ran for Congress because we have a short window to correct our mistakes. In doing so, I learned that our political landscape remains dominated by older generations partly because it’s so hard to get started in politics.
Of course, young leaders need experience. Roles that people suggest you try before running for Congress (i.e. city council) require 25-35 hours per week and are underpaid or unpaid. In my town, Palo Alto, city council is the lowest-paying job in the city. The system favors the wealthy and retired.
Not all candidates are millionaires, but having connections to them helps with fundraising. While my opponents called Jeff Bezos and Mike Bloomberg, I reached out to my connections, who were struggling to pay off student loans or find a job.
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Interest groups aren’t much help here. One prominent environmental organization I spoke with only asked about my fundraising, ignoring my environmental policy ideas. Another organization, focused on electing younger leaders to public office, told me they don’t support candidates before the primary if they are running against other Democrats.
Yet when I knocked on nearly 5,000 doors, the conversations were different. People were excited to see a fresh face still interested in politics.
We need to accelerate paths to power for younger leaders. My classmates at Stanford Business School get millions from venture capitalists who also provide advice and training, as at corporate training programs like General Electric’s, which produced successful business managers globally. Same goes for aspiring physicians, who must train in hospitals for years.
Imagine if colleges trained qualified young people to run for office. However, Internal Revenue Service rules prevent schools from indirectly assisting candidates to maintain their tax-exempt status. During my campaign while attending business school at Stanford, I was warned by administrators that even sharing campaign email updates with classmates could have personal academic consequences.
When I decided to run for office, I was surprised at the lack of training available. In business school, we learn from experts how to master everything from financial accounting to supply chain management. Yet aspiring candidates are left to figure out how to get on the ballot. I could barely count the daunting array of county, state and federal disclosure forms necessary to run. It’s assumed candidates will just pay for a lawyer to handle these tasks, creating a barrier for those without financial resources.
Why not offer a course that takes students through the steps of campaigning. From canvassing to compliance. Or mail strategy to stump speech.
Even at one of the nation’s top policy schools, Harvard’s Kennedy School, there is just one class on campaigning, which is consistently oversubscribed. And the class creator, Deval Patrick, recently announced he is stepping down.
Candidates are stuck with partisan training options. The National Democratic Training Center, for example, provides content that’s easily found on Google, without offering real connections, state-specific guidance, or tailored support. Worse, these programs reinforce partisan divides. We don’t train lawyers to be Republicans or Democrats—why should politicians be any different in a nation already deeply polarized?
What if we followed another nation’s nonpartisan lead. The UK offers a Civil Service Fast Stream Program to find and accelerate promising civil leaders. Sharon White, former executive of the Office of Communications, worked her way through the Fast Stream program.
Singapore has programs to recruit and train good students interested in public service and offer extensive scholarships, such as the Public Service Commission Scholarship. The newly elected prime minister, Lawrence Wong, is a PSC recipient.
Younger generations have led America in the past. Alexander Hamilton was 21 and James Madison was 25 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Constitution itself was written by founding fathers in their early 30s. Martin Luther King Jr. was just 26 when he led the Montgomery bus boycott.
Our president is 82 and our president-elect is 78. The average age in the Senate is 65. In my district in Northern California, the 81-year-old incumbent endorsed a 71-year-old candidate in the primary.
Such an age imbalance affects policy priorities and outcomes. Nearly 50% of the Federal budget goes to a minority that is 75% white and just 17% of the population: Americans over 65. It’s like we are buying tickets to a concert we can’t attend. We need young people in political office if our generation’s problems are to be addressed.
Joby Bernstein is a student at Stanford Graduate School of Business and former Congressional candidate.
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