There’s been a lot of chatter about the (cringey) Millennial takeover in Congress, but in reality, Gen X will be the largest generation in Congress come January. In classic Gen X fashion, no one really seemed to notice or care.
It took Gen X long enough. For pretty much all of its existence, X has been the least politically influential since, at a minimum, the birth of the modern Senate more than a century ago.
Gen X’s futility begins at the top. It’s the only eligible generation to have been shut out so far from both the presidency and the vice presidency. The closest it’s gotten is failed vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, while the younger Millennial generation has already seen one of its own, JD Vance, take that same seat.
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Gen X’s time in Congress hasn’t been any more impressive. Since the first Gen Xers entered Congress in 1995, their generation has lagged well behind where any other group had been at the same point in their generational arc. (For 2027, not all races have been called yet, so we’re basing our stats on whomever was leading in the vote count as of Nov. 9.)
Some of Gen X’s electoral dysfunction can be attributed to its size — there are a lot fewer of them than Boomers, Millennials or Gen Zers. Like their Millennial and Zoomer cousins, their generation lasted only 16 years — compared to 19 for the Boomers or a generous 27 years for the Greatest Generation.
But even when you adjust for generation length, Gen X cuts a pretty weak line.
(If you’re wondering where these labels come from, we rely on our friends at Pew Research for the most recent generation names and years. For anything before the Greatest Generation, we resorted to an oddly influential 1991 book, “Generations” by William Strauss and Neil Howe.)
It seems to be the Boomers’ fault. Stuck in the shadow of the biggest generation in U.S. history, Gen X never accounted for more than a third of the House-eligible population (people age 25 and up) — and they’re already past their peak. Compare that to Boomers who, at their peak, made up half of that age group.
Millennials peaked at about the same size of the population, so why are they running ahead of where Gen X was at their age, politically?
Again, it seems likely to be the Boomer hangover. That generation was so big, and held power for so long, that Gen X got squeezed out. There just weren’t that many openings in the 2000s, when Gen X should have had its chance. By the time Boomers finally began retiring, Millennials were stepping into their own political prime.
And it’s not clear the Gen X curse will be reversed. Many of the top names thrown about for 2028 presidential candidates in both parties — like Vance and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) — are as Millennial as they come.
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