Mitchell and Alfonso lead small cohort of Gen Z Republicans in November

Joe Mitchell, 29, and Michael Alfonso, 26, are positioned to enter the House of Representatives in 2027. If they win their respective races in Iowa and Wisconsin, they will join Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost as the only three members of the Generation Z cohort in the chamber. The group is small, with only a handful of other young Republicans competing for House seats this fall.

The path to these nominations has been limited by age and party structure. The House requires candidates to be at least 25 years old, a threshold the oldest members of Generation Z reach next year. According to a report from Future Caucus, a nonpartisan organization, only 4% of congressional candidates nationwide this cycle belong to Generation Z. That generation had the lowest rate of advancing past primary elections compared to other age groups.

Party affiliation further narrows the field. Future Caucus data shows that a majority of Generation Z candidates filed as Democrats this year. Fewer than one third ran as Republicans, while 16% selected third parties or did not affiliate with a major party. This pattern contrasts with earlier cycles where young progressives received significant national attention.

Mitchell is running in Iowa's second congressional district, a race considered a tossup. He holds the endorsement of President Trump and served as a state senator and real estate developer before his current campaign. His platform focuses on term limits, capping House service at six terms, and banning congressional stock trading. Mitchell states he has rejected campaign donations from corporate PACs as part of an anti-corruption strategy.

Alfonso is expected to win Wisconsin's seventh district, a heavily Republican seat. He is a political newcomer endorsed by Trump and is married to the daughter of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who held the seat from 2011 to 2019. If elected, Alfonso would be the first person born in the 2000s to serve in Congress. In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, he described his age as his greatest advantage.

Organizers are working to expand the bench of young conservatives. Adam Pennings, executive director of Run Gen Z, announced more than 220 endorsements for Generation Z and millennial candidates in late October. The slate includes longshots such as Riley Owen, a 28-year-old Republican running in Utah's newly redrawn first district, which favors Democrats. Owen stated that voters are seeking new faces and grassroots approaches.

The election on Tuesday will determine the size of this new cohort. Mitchell argues the future of the Republican Party involves asking how policies help the American people, a view he associates with Vice President JD Vance. The conflict with Iran has become a point of contention in tough races, though Mitchell has not come out against the war, stating only that he does not support endless conflicts.