Joe Mitchell, seen at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, is the GOP nominee in Iowa’s 2nd congressional district. He is one of just a handful of Gen-Z Republicans on the poll for the U.S. House this yr.

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Scott Olson/Getty Images

In northeast Iowa, 29-year-old Joe Mitchell is vying to symbolize the state’s second congressional district. It’s a aggressive race, one of just a handful thought-about to be a tossup, as voters bitter on President Trump and Democrats see management of Congress as more and more in attain.

Mitchell has the president’s endorsement, and if he’s profitable, he would head to Washington D.C. next yr as half of a new cohort: the first-ever class of Gen Z Republicans in Congress.

It would not be a massive class. Aside from Mitchell, just a handful of other Gen Z Republicans are in the operating for House seats this fall. One is operating in a reliably crimson district. The relaxation are longshots, vying for what’s seen as secure blue seats.

While their numbers may be small, Mitchell says the thought of a new era of leaders in Washington is something that voters have been responding to on the marketing campaign path.

“I think people are looking for hope, regardless of what party they’re in,” he said. “They want to see young people get involved, and I hear that everywhere we go.”

The former state senator and actual property developer says his platform can communicate to Iowans on both sides of the aisle. He’s calling for time period limits in the House, with a most of six phrases, as nicely as a ban on congressional inventory buying and selling. He says he has also rejected marketing campaign donations from company PACs.

It’s all half of an “anti-corruption platform,” a focus he says is uniquely rooted in his era, as Americans under 30 report excessive ranges of concern for their financial wellbeing and mistrust of establishments.

“I just think that young people — on both sides of the aisle or no party affiliates — are frustrated with the system,” he said. “They’re frustrated and they should be.”

Currently, just one member of the House is half of Gen Z: 29-year-old Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost. However, two further candidates are expected to win on Tuesday. Democratic socialist Melat Kiros, 29, is favored to win in Colorado’s 1st district, a reliably blue seat. Republican Michael Alfonso, 26, is expected to carry Wisconsin’s seventh district, a closely Republican seat.

Alfonso, a political newcomer endorsed by Trump, is married to the daughter of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who beforehand held the seat from 2011 until 2019. If elected, he would be the first individual born in the 2000s to serve in Congress.

In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio earlier this month, Alfonso called his age his “greatest advantage.”

Michael Alfonso, a candidate for U.S. House in Wisconsin’s seventh congressional district, shakes arms with attendees during a marketing campaign occasion on Aug. 4, 2026, in New Richmond, Wisc.

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Ellen Schmidt/AP

“I have the same values of everyone here in the 7th [district,]” said Alfonso. “Hard work, faith and family.”

But operating and successful as a candidate in their 20s stays a rarity in politics. With the oldest Gen Zers turning 30 next yr, it’s a era that’s only just beginning to become eligible to serve in the House, which has an age minimal of 25.

Just 4% of congressional candidates nationwide this cycle were half of Gen Z, which was the least possible of any era to make it previous the main, according to a report from Future Caucus, a nonpartisan group supporting younger individuals in elected workplace.

The uncommon Gen-Z GOP candidate 

Plus, while operating for Congress as a younger individual stays uncommon, doing so as a younger Republican is even less frequent.

Future Caucus knowledge reveals that a majority of Gen Z candidates who ran for Congress this yr ran as Democrats, while under a third filed as Republicans. Another 16% did not affiliate with either celebration or chosen a third celebration.

While younger Republicans garnered less nationwide media consideration, in contrast to the wave of largely unsuccessful younger progressives who threw their hat into the ring during the Democratic main, conservative organizers say they’re working to construct their bench at the native, state and federal stage.

Adam Pennings is the government director of Run Gen Z, an group that helps younger conservatives operating for workplace, which was initially based and run by Mitchell.

“Young people need a seat at the table. Does that mean they need to be the only seat of the table? No,” said Pennings. “We need to be building up young people who are ready to lead in the future when some of these more, you know, long-term serving people retire.”

In late October, his group announced endorsements for more than 220 Gen Z and millennial conservatives operating across the nation.

That included a slate of congressional hopefuls like Mitchell and Alfonso, as nicely as more longshot candidates, like Riley Owen, a 28-year-old Republican operating to symbolize Utah’s newly redrawn 1st congressional district, which closely favors Democrats.

In an interview, Owen acknowledged that he is not naive to the political realities of his district, though he stays optimistic, contending that “people are hungry for a new solution, new faces, fresh ideas, and a grassroots campaign like the one we’re running.”

Having a voice in the debate over the GOP’s future

But on the eve of what is expected to be a difficult election evening for the GOP, younger conservatives like Owen are also considering about what type of celebration they hope to see in the future.

“People want to trust their government. People want to take risks and dream big and start a business, start a family, live the American dream,” he added. “They want all of those things. And if we can provide solutions, I think the conservative movement has a very bright future.”

Back in Iowa, Mitchell argues the future of the Republican Party is “an America First party.”

“It’s just asking a number of questions that maybe we didn’t ask before, like, ‘how does this help the American people?’ And I think you’re going to see that trend coming from specifically younger candidates,” he said, including he believes that Vice President JD Vance as nicely as other members of Trump’s cupboard maintain that view. 

Joe Mitchell presents President Trump with a self-made “Man of the Century Award” during a rally on Oct. 22, 2026 in Sioux City, Iowa.

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

But the that means behind “America First,” has become a level of competition within the conservative motion, significantly as factions of the GOP conflict over the U.S. conflict with Iran.

The conflict has been one of the greatest sore spots for Republicans like Mitchell operating in robust contests, significantly as Democrats search to hyperlink the battle to rising prices.

Mitchell has not come out against the conflict, and has said that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, while cautioning that he does not support “endless wars.”

When requested whether Trump’s agenda squares with his own definition of “America First,” Mitchell argued that it does. But “like any definition,” he said, ” people can have a number of ways to interpret it.”