Not in the slightest – we keep electing them into office!
In the weeks since I’ve announced my candidacy for Providence’s State Representative District 8 (Federal Hill, Olneyville), I have fielded a lot of questions from friends, family and neighbors. One that keeps popping up, along with “are you nuts?” and “what do state reps even do?” is the one about my age: “aren’t you too young for that?”
Anyone who has worked with me knows I love a good spreadsheet. So I put one together on this question. I’m likely missing several examples of people under 35 elected to the RI General Assembly, but the list was more inclusive than I expected, and is certainly enough to prove a point – Rhode Island likes them young.
And at a glance, it even seems fairly representative of the larger General Assembly in terms of male/female and Providence/Northern RI/West Bay/East Bay.
I’d be interested to see someone else continue asking questions: are young people elected more or less often than their older peers? Who is the youngest person to successfully challenge an RI incumbent legislator? And of course, there’s all the data on the other end of the spectrum. In 2009 when I was around the State House a lot as a volunteer lobbyist for Fair Elections, Representative Peter Martin would joke with me that he was the oldest freshman that year, at 67 years old. What does the historical competition for that honor look like?
First off, thanks for running. I wish more people in my age group got involved in local politics. I think most of us don’t realize how much is done at the local and state level.
I just wanted to mention that I would suspect a big reason why fewer young people are able to run for the GA is because it’s a part-time legislature (with a part-time salary). There are very few professions that can allow for the time commitment the GA require while earning a living wage.
Best of luck in your race Libby… running for office is not an easy thing to do (obviously) and requires an incredible commitment of time, energy, and resources. Maybe that’s why some people are surprised that a younger candidate would want to run for office? After all, young people are “supposed” to be concerned with having a social life, or falling in love and getting married, or following a career path — it’s not often on the list that I hear someone ask what a young person’s commitment to public service should be.
Maybe we need to ask that question more often. Not just “would you run for office?”, but “would you commit [x] hours a week to public service”… be that cleaning up your local community, helping to educate those who are lacking in computer (or other) skills, planting a community garden, or volunteering for various local events.
Anyway, I think you’re helping to set a great example as a progressive and as a young person trying to make the RI General Assembly a better governing body. I’m looking forward to you spelling out some of your core principals here on the blog or on your own website — providing that wonderful (spreadsheet based?) transparency all us young people seem to enjoy in our politics!