Raul Grijalva and the Gerontocracy
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I have so much respect for Raul Grijalva, the outstanding legislator from Arizona. He was one of the greatest congressional progressives of the first quarter of this century. He died yesterday, of cancer, at the age of 77.
But here’s another question–why did Grijalva run for reelection at his age? He was diagnosed with cancer in April 2024. The Arizona Democratic primary was in March, so OK. But given that Arizona has a Democratic governor, why not resign and lead into a special election. Grijalva was completely absent from Congress for months at a moment when Republicans held such a slim majority that everyone really counts.
When I and others talk about the Democratic gerontocracy, a lot of readers seem to think we are talking about ideology. But that’s not true. Obviously not every younger Democrat is good and not every older Democrat is a mediocre blob of jelly like Chuck Schumer. What we are talking about is more about the willingness to fight and the physical ability to keep up with the job. Joe Biden had neither of these and obviously needed to go. If Biden hadn’t put himself before the nation, he would have announced after the 22 midterms that he was not running in 2024. But that hardly ever happens. Grijalva put himself ahead of the voters of Arizona over the last 10 months, I am sorry to say.
For that matter, why are old Democrats continuing to run for Congress as if they had a future. I am thinking now of Houston’s former mayor, Sylvester Turner, who decided to become a first term congressman at the age of 70 and not surprisingly dropped dead last week. So that puts Democrats down 2 members of Congress.
Three years ago, my mom died, at the age of 74. People told me, “she was so young.” And I’m thinking, no she wasn’t. 74 is a normal age to die. Thanks to modern health, it’s a bit below average, but historically of course, it’s above your three score and ten. Now, my mom had long-term health issues, so it’s a different set of calculations than being surprised that a fit 74 year old has a heart attack. But a fit 74 year old having a heart attack is a completely normal circumstance. I’m 51 and feel I am almost on borrowed time. The ability of the current generation of olds to think they are going to live forever is an outrageous level of reality denial and in the case of the Democratic Party, incredibly damaging to the nation’s ability to fight and survive Donald Trump and his merry band of fascists.
So yes, in an ideal world, not only do Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin retire soon, but so do Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The irreplaceable man does not exist. The voters of New York and Illinois can most certainly do better but the voters of Vermont and Massachusetts should be able to do so the same. I admit that this is not an iron law. I was a big supporter of Ed Markey’s reelection bid against Joe Kennedy III in 2020 because Kennedy was horrible and also incredibly privileged and outraged that Markey wouldn’t just drop out in favor of him. So there are times….But you also would have liked to see Markey simply not run for reelection in his 70s and open the field, creating a different set of circumstances that probably would have led to a younger progressive candidate and Kennedy. Markey is now 78 and I hope he does not run again in 2026. I mean, he was born in the fucking Truman administration. C’mon!
At least a few Democrats seem to be getting the message. We’ve had three olds in the Senate already choose not to run for reelection. Jeanne Shaheen–age 78–is the latest. There’s also Tina Smith–age 67–and Gary Peters–age 66. I have no real complaints about the records of any of these three, but none of them are fighters, especially Shaheen and Peters. They would all be either old or very old by the time their next term would be up. They all seem to realize–or if not their actions are serving the same outcome–the need to open up room for fresh blood. Now, other old people might step in and that sadly wouldn’t surprise me. The issues around gerontocracy in the Democratic Party run very very deep. But these are starts and I hope we see more old Democrats retire.
By and large, people over the age of 70 should consider not being in politics any longer. There may be exceptions, but they need to be exceptions and ego is not an acceptable one. This is true regardless of ideology.