When Rep. Mike Honda celebrated his hard-fought re-election win in Silicon Valley over fellow Democrat Ro Khanna, his victory speech crystallized one of his party’s biggest challenges in California as it looks toward the future.
“There’s no reason to retire,” the 73-year-old Honda exulted when his narrow victory over Khanna, 38, was assured. “I’m going to live until 103. … I’m not going anywhere.”
While Honda’s grit and enthusiasm is a boon to his progressive and labor backers, his stated determination to hang on to his House seat for years to come underscores the fears of some Democrats that they head into the 2016 elections in danger of losing ground to Republicans with critical Millennial voters.
Some political observers suggest that a “gerontocracy” dilemma looms for Democrats, who fired up millions of young voters with a fresh face named Barack Obama in 2008, but who now face the dominance of the party’s older officeholders and the difficulty of its younger generation in moving up the ladder.