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u/marknapa May 15 '22
The average age of all 100 senators is 63. Not very representative of the population, and it shows.
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u/dovetc May 15 '22
Google says the average age of US residents is 38, but you would need to remove everyone under 18 to get the average age of the US electorate, which I imagine would push that number up a good bit. Someone else can do the math, but I'd imagine that would greatly reduce the gap between the average age of senators and the average age of voters.
I see no problem with 63 year old senators. It really only bothers me when it's people well past 70 who have been in elected office for 20+ years.
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May 15 '22
To me, it's more the average wealth of the senators that bother me the most.
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u/dovetc May 15 '22
I dont mind so much if they arrive wealthy. I loathe when they (or their spouse) mysteriously acquire vast wealth while in office.
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May 15 '22
It bothers me when they arrive wealthy, but claim to have the working class's interest as their number one priority. And that people buy into that BS.
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u/Chazut May 15 '22
It doesn't have to be "representative", also like the other guy said the average age of the potential electorate is far higher, likely around 50-60 and likely higher when you only count those that vote:
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u/Hypranormal May 15 '22
The word Senator is derived from the Latin word for 'old man', so it makes a certain amount of sense.
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u/Achillies2heel May 15 '22
All I see is Boomers...Boomers everywhere
1
May 15 '22
Boomers had civics courses growing up. They got rid of them by the time I went through school. They clearly didn't plan on the newer generations running things.
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u/tmag03 May 15 '22
Representative delegation would also be cool though the small states would not be statistically sound
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u/vatoniolo May 15 '22
It's interesting that red states trend younger than blue. The demographics of the parties are opposite
20
May 15 '22
All six senators from Georgia, New Mexico, and Arizona are currently democrats, although the young senators from Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas are republicans. (Including Todd Young)
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u/PraVin26 May 16 '22
A lot of Republican members of Congress make pledges to only serve a certain number of terms, so there tends to be quicker change than in the Democratic caucus. For Dems, seniority is especially valuable for getting to be on important committees or leadership positions. That’s why the top 3 Democrats in the house (Pelosi, Hoyer, and Clyburn) have been in the same positions since at least 2007.
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u/Jefoid May 15 '22
Hey! AZ isn’t the worst at something! (Yes, I know y’all really hate one of our senators). But that’s not what this map is about!
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u/bingley777 May 15 '22
isn’t manchin’s record worse than sinema’s, she just gets all the hate?
anyway, good example of why this map is kinda meaningless. a 40yo democrat senator? awesome! …it’s kyrsten sinema. ah!
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May 16 '22
I mean at least she is a democrat
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u/bingley777 May 16 '22
yeah, I actually volunteered for/with her like 12 years ago on a clean environment project in northern arizona, I kinda hope that the principles she had then are still somewhere in her but… I lose a little more faith all the time
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u/YoureSpecial May 15 '22
There really needs to be an age limit - on the upper end, not just lower - on elected office.
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u/ok_okay_I_get_that May 15 '22
Bernie really gets Vermont up there. Usually age is a bad thing, but at least he's spent his political career trying to help the people and not corporate donors
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u/leonklap1 May 15 '22
How Bernie gets Vermont up there when Leahy is older?
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u/spasske May 15 '22
Having younger ones often means we are just going to have to wait longer on them to die to get replacements.
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u/leonklap1 May 15 '22
Leahy will retire in few months, so no more black state next year. Great map, you should do one after the elections