Are politicians too old? California Democrats want to debate about an age knock.

While Democrats are struggling with how they can restore their losses in November, an uncomfortable question was established in California, the state that has long established trends for the party.

Are their leaders just too old?

Some party activists, who point to various examples in which they say that leaders gave power long beyond their Prime, want to remove the political keys at a certain age of state and local office holders.

The idea, initiated by the Democrats of San Francisco in a resolution, will be considered by the party in the entire state if it will hold his convention later this month. Although it is largely a symbolic pursuit, the fact that the conversation takes place at all is remarkable in a place known for worshiping its older leaders.

California is the state of Dianne Feinstein, who died at the age of 90 in 2023. It is also the home of Jerry Brown, who served two times as governor in his 1970s; Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the house, who is 85; 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 worries, and some have had significant performance late in life, so that the gravitas and steadfastness can come that can come up with experience.

But many Democrats still regret Senator Feinstein who remained in office long after major health problems became clear and became clear and Questions have been asked About her ability to focus and make decisions.

They also remember their consternation about the decision of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg so as not to join the Supreme Court, while President Barack Obama was in office. She died at the age of 87 in the first term of President Trump, giving him the opportunity to replace her with a conservative justice.

But it was former President Joseph R. Biden who brought up the issue last year, when he campaigned at 81. Many Democrats believe that he was waiting too long to bend out and robbed the party of time to set up an effective effort to defeat Mr Trump.

“We can’t just pretend that it didn’t happen and that we will not make any changes,” said Eric Kingsbury, a Democrat from San Francisco, about the decline of Mr Biden. “Everyone saw it with their own eyes, and a lot of people told them what they saw was not the truth.”

Mr Kingsbury, 36, is a member of the little known but locally powerful San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. He said he wrote the resolution as a direct response to Mr Biden who stayed in the race for too long and some Democrats do not even continue to discuss how they can erase the way for younger candidates.

Are solution called for a mandatory retirement age to explore all chosen and appointed leaders at national and local level, but no federal functions such as the congress. In particular, it has not specified a specific age.

The proposal passed 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 is now stimulating the left side.

“It’s offensive,” said Connie Chan, 46, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and of the local party committee who voted no. “It’s Ageism. It’s discrimination against people who have experience.”

The resolution will be considered one of the hundreds by the California Democratic Party at its convention this month, but it cannot go far ahead. Even if that is the case, it would be a state law adopted by the legislative power and signed by the governor, to impose an age limit.

If that ever flourished, California would be the first state to force state and local politicians to retire at a certain age. Thirty-like States but not California-Dwingen judges to retire. The most common Cutoff is 70, although Vermont allows judges to serve until they are 90.

Age is not just a democratic worries. Voters last year in North Dakota, a stand -led by the Republicans, approved a measure Forbidden candidates to run for the congress If they were to become 81 or older by the end of the year before their term of office was closed. But the measure had no influence on the state and local office holders, and it would probably take on a legal challenge as an Octogenary candidate right case.

In 2023, Republicans also expressed their concern after Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader at that time at the age of 81, physically frozen While taking questions about news conferences.

There are already federal policy that requires compulsory retirement for professions that require intense focus. Aviation pilots Must retire at 65air traffic controllers In general, retirement must be retired at 56 and military officers usually has to step aside at 64.

Of course the person on top of the federal executive power is confronted with no retirement age. Although there was so much emphasis on Mr Biden last year, many Democrats quickly demonstrated that Mr. Trump 82 will be against the time his term ends.

“There should be concerned about the age of Donald Trump,” said Scott Wiener, a senator of the Democratic State from San Francisco who believes that the president destroyed the economy and international relations. He recently remembered the mood of the Central Committee on the age resolution.

Apart from California, David Hogg, the 25-year-old political activist who has said the shooting in Parkland in 2018, and is now the vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, that Democrats should destroy the ‘culture of seniority policy’. Through a separate organization, leaders we earn, he has promised to spend $ 20 million To support younger primary candidates Against older, deep -rooted Democrats.

Representative Ro Khanna, 48, Democrat van California, has long urged a generation change in politics, and senator Dick Durbin, 80, from Illinois for his “wisdom” in recent decisions to decide Don’t look for another term.

Americans seem to support the idea of ​​a mandatory retirement age for office holders. A PEW Research Center Survey from 2023Before the age -related difficulties of Mr Biden became clear, it turned out that 79 percent of Americans prefer age limits for chosen officials in Washington, and 74 percent prefer them for the Supreme Court.

Some residents in North California said that a mandatory retirement age could be useful, although they recognized the delicacy of the subject. Marcelle Maldonado, a 67-year-old pensioner in Dixon, California, said she believed that politicians should retire with 65 or 70 to make room for people with “fresh eyes and fresh ears.” But she was not optimistic that such a mandate would pass because the politicians themselves should approve.

In Oakland, Nicole Barratt, a 30-year-old employee in a plant shop, said she thought it was strange that many professions required people to retire at the age of 65, but the leaders of the country have no such rule.

“They are very isolated after they have been to the office for a long time,” she said.

Several politicians older than 70 have not returned requests for comments. That included Mrs. Lee, who will be sworn in later this month as mayor of Oakland, and Antonio Villarigosa, 72, a former mayor in Los Angeles who runs for California Governor in the 2026 race.

John Burton, the former congressman from San Francisco, who resigned eight years ago as chairman of the California Democratic Party, said that he did not like the idea of ​​deadlines or age limits. He took Umbrage the idea that he is coming up in age.

“Jesus, don’t call me an older statesman,” he grumbled in his characteristic spiky style. “I have never heard that I described.”

He is 92.

John Laird, a 75-year-old senator from the state from Santa Cruz, said that the idea of ​​an age limit was “random and stupid” and that he felt sharper and more engaged than when he was chosen at the age of 31 in the Santa Cruz city council.

He added that the periods of California help solve the problem. He will be mentioned when he is 78.

“My staff had a field day who told me what to say when you called,” he said laughing. “Wait, I can’t hear you!” And “Wait, my cardiologist is on the other line!” “

Any legislation that sets an age cap would, if adopted, to the agency of the 57-year-old Gov. Gavin Newsom go and he is not a big fan. He said that politicians need ‘the qualities of the youth’, such as imagination and sharpness, but that those 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 noted that if California had tried to impose an age limit to members of the congress, Mrs. Pelosi would not have been a speaker the second time, nor would have exerted the influence she still has as a congress member. One of her acts last year was to push President Biden to leave the 2024 race.

Last month the resolution of the San Francisco Central Committee was adopted with 15 AYE voices, eight Nays and eight abstentions.

One committee member may have felt stronger than the other.

Mrs. Pelosi, via a representative, cast a vote against the age limit. She has not said yet Whether she will run a new term next year.

Coral Murphy Marcos Contributions of reporting from Oakland, Calif.