When 28-year-old Janet Nguyen was elected to the Garden Grove City Council in November 2004, she became the youngest elected official in Orange County.
But a little more than two years later, Nguyen, who is now running for a seat on the Board of Supervisors, has been eclipsed: In Santa Ana, newly elected Councilwoman Michele Martinez is 27, and in Buena Park, new school board member Jerry Kong is 26.
They are not alone.
In Los Angeles County, the average age on the Bell Gardens City Council is 32; the youngest member is Priscilla Flores, 28, and the oldest, Daniel Crespo, 38. In Lennox, school board members Veronica Renteria and Marisol Cruz are 27, and in the Centinela Valley Union High School District, Rafael Ramirez was elected in 2003 at 18. Alex Padilla, who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council at 26, is now the youngest member of the state Senate, at 33.
They and dozens of others are part of a trend playing out on school boards, water districts, city councils, the Legislature and beyond: Politicians are getting younger.
Although no one appears to have collected data documenting the youth movement, sociologists, political scientists and political pros agree it is taking place. They offer myriad explanations for the trend, including a generational power shift, the notion of California as a clean slate making it more hospitable to fresh leaders, and a renewed interest by young people in public service.
But all agree that term limits have played a significant role.
"Term limits have definitely opened it up," said Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party. He was elected to the Assembly in 1974 at 28 but says, "There wasn't then a whole group of young people like we see today."
The trend is particularly pronounced in areas where middle-class whites have been replaced by Latino and Asian immigrants, leaving a political power vacuum. Members of this new generation of young politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, are often the first in their families to grow up in the United States and to attend college. They are filling the void.
"In the southeast cities of Los Angeles [County], they're getting elected in a new demographic environment, which means it's a relatively new political environment," said Jaime Regelado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. "You're getting a demographic shift that decades later is playing out politically," he said.
