His death marks the third elderly Democratic member of Congress to die in office this year. The late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) died in March at the age of 77 after a battle with cancer.

A week before Grijalva passed, Texas Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner died at the age of 70. He had recovered from bone cancer in 2022.

CONGRESSMAN GERRY CONNOLLY DIES AT 75

Younger Democrats have pointed to their deaths as examples that elder leaders are clinging to power at the detriment of the next generation and the ability of the party to counter President Donald Trump’s administration.

“This is a wake-up call for us,” said Douglas Wilson, a Democratic strategist based in North Carolina.

After a generation of leaders helped guide the party through the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, a new crop of Democrats is itching for their turn in leadership.

“It’s time for a lot of those members who are at an age now that should really consider stepping aside and allowing the millennial generation and even some young Gen Xers around my age to step in, to take the reins,” added Wilson.

Connolly, in particular, was one of the elder Democrats who defeated the younger Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to become the ranking member of the Oversight Committee. His win came even as Democrats privately fretted over his ability to lead, given his cancer diagnosis announced two days after winning reelection in 2024. 

A Democratic aide, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told the Washington Examiner that his death only reinforced the long-needed conversation about the future of the party.

“If Rep. Connolly passing away is your wake-up call to Democrats needing new leadership, you haven’t been paying attention,” said the aide. “This isn’t a canary in a coal mine — it’s another in a long list of data points we’ve been ignoring for years.”

Out of the 14 members of Congress to die in office since 2020, 10 were Democrats. Eight of the 12 members who died between 2010 and 2019 were Democrats. And from 2000 to 2009, 12 of the 19 members who died were Democrats.

There are elderly Republicans in Congress. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), 91, is the oldest and longest-serving member of Congress, while Delegate to the House Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), 87, is the oldest member in the House. Norton flirted with succeeding Connolly as the top member on the Oversight Committee, but backlash regarding her age led the lawmaker to pass on running.

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), 70, is currently serving as the ranking member in the interim and has Connolly’s endorsement to succeed him permanently.

The race sets up another generational battle between Lynch and younger Democrats who could run for the spot, such as Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), 44, and Robert Garcia (D-CA), 47.

Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist who supports Lynch’s bid, said Lynch’s past occupation as an ironworker could help the party with blue-collar workers who have drifted toward the GOP.

“You have a situation here where this is an opportunity for Democrats to do something to elect a blue-collar guy to an important position in the House,” said Bannon, who also served as a longtime pollster for Lynch. “I would argue that age isn’t the only criteria involved here. It’s an important criteria. But so is elevating someone to a leadership position who is basically a blue-collar guy.”

Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist who has worked on several presidential campaigns, claimed that ineffective Democrats can be found at any age in the party. Instead, he cautioned his party to focus on key issues that matter to voters.

“What’s fascinating about the age thing is that Democrats continue to allow themselves to get distracted about the very things that voters don’t give two sh**s about,” Ceraso said. “Older people, younger people, middle-aged people can all be ineffective, and we can go down the list of congressmen and women who are ineffective, and they represent all age groups.”

Ceraso noted that some of the most prominent left-leaning lawmakers in Congress, such as Ocasio-Cortez or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), should be evaluated for their ability to pass laws.

Democratic National Committee vice chairman David Hogg waded into the debate over aging lawmakers when he announced a $20 million initiative to primary incumbent Democrats in favor of younger politicians willing to fight against Trump.

The move angered Democrats across the board and led DNC chairman Ken Martin to rebuke Hogg by claiming leaders should not involve themselves in primary races. After a challenge from an unsuccessful DNC vice chair candidate, Hogg could face another election later in the summer to keep hold of his leadership role.

But some Democrats privately fretted that pushing out Hogg as the party faces problems over elderly lawmakers is not a good look.

Establishment-minded Democrats who refuse to leave office may do so due to a fear of the liberal values of younger Democrats such as Hogg and Ocasio-Cortez, said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a progressive group first started by Sanders.

“They represent a real challenge to the status quo,” said Geevarghese. “And the problem is the status quo, the establishment of both parties, the segment of the parties that are most aligned with corporate America, those politicians are the ones who don’t want to change how the party is operated.”

The seniority debate also comes the same week that former President Joe Biden announced he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer, and allegations that his allies covered up his mental decline have dominated Washington.

New books such as Original Sin uncovered the shocking details of the former president’s decline, prompting Democrats who once defended Biden to begin criticizing his decision to run for reelection.

Retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) told CNN on Tuesday that while she did not notice Biden’s decline, his late July 2024 exit from the race blocked the party from holding a primary debate instead of the rushed process that led to former Vice President Kamala Harris’s ascent as the nominee.

“My concern, as I have said, was that it would have been important to have an opportunity for a younger generation of Democrats to debate the issues that are affecting this country,” Shaheen said. “To talk about their visions for the future, what we need to do to ensure that we have a strong economy and good jobs for people that they can get their healthcare, that we have a strong foreign policy, and sadly, that didn’t happen because of the way the campaign played out.”

DNC’S DAVID HOGG DRAMA DEEPENS THE DEMOCRATIC DIVIDE

Wilson, the North Carolina strategist, implored party members to begin planning to help members make room for younger Democrats.

“We need to make sure that we have a succession plan as a caucus for our older members,” he said. “And this is not a knock to our older members. This is to save our older members from their legacies being destroyed if they stay in office too long and are unable to function.”