The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer.
There is a major generational shift that is unfolding in our politics across the country in this 2026 election.
For Democrats, this feels long overdue. A generation of Democratic leaders quite clearly stayed on too long. But now, the page is finally being turned. The torch is being passed. A new generation is coming of age. Those who grew up with Barack Obama as president are ready to take the reins.
Look at Jon Ossoff or James Talarico or Abdul El-Sayed in U.S. Senate races. Rob Sand in Iowa. So many of the high-profile races across the nation are featuring millennial candidates. For the first time, more than a third of congressional candidates are millennials, millennials are now “the largest generational bloc running for U.S. Senate,” Amanda Litman of Run for Something noted. This is, in many ways, one of the defining stories of the 2026 election across the country.
This has been a significant part of Wisconsin’s 2026 election, too. Rebecca Cooke, 38, is a millennial. Mitchell Berman, 40, is a millennial. Francesca Hong, 37, is a millennial — and her campaign resonated with young people like few have in this state.
At 40 years old, David Crowley is a millennial, too. If he were to win against 68-year-old Tom Tiffany, he would become one of the nation’s youngest governors.
