Melat Kiros becomes first Gen Z woman elected to US Congress
Young voters swung sharply toward Democrats in the 2026 midterms, as 24 Generation Z candidates reached the ballot, according to Future Caucus.
At a glance
- Melat Kiros, 29, of Colorado became the first Generation Z woman elected to Congress.
- She beat 30-year incumbent Diana DeGette in the Denver-area Democratic primary.
- About seven in 10 voters under 30 backed Democrats in House races, an AP poll found.
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old Ethiopian-born democratic socialist from Colorado, has become the first Generation Z woman elected to Congress, in a 2026 US midterm election that brought a more diverse group of candidates into office.
Kiros, a lawyer turned doctoral student, defeated 30-year incumbent Representative Diana DeGette in the Denver-area Democratic primary earlier this year as a first-time candidate. After that win she told supporters she would take the fight to "Donald Trump and the oligarchy", and backed abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), passing Medicare for All and ending what she called the "genocide in Palestine".
She joins Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida, who became the first Gen Z member of the House in 2022.
Gen Z candidates on the ballot
Of 117 Generation Z candidates who ran for Congress this year, 24 won their primaries and reached Tuesday's ballot, according to the organisation Future Caucus.
Young voters swing to Democrats
Young voters backed Democrats by a wide margin, according to an Associated Press voter poll. Roughly seven in 10 voters under 30 nationally said they supported the Democratic candidate in their local US House race, while about three in 10 voted Republican. That marked a dramatic shift from 2024, when the youngest voters were roughly split between Trump and Kamala Harris.
Most first-time midterm voters, who skew younger, also supported Democratic candidates, the poll found. But both groups made up a fairly small share of the electorate: only about one in 10 voters nationally were under 30, which limited the impact of the shift.
Displeasure with the country's direction was evident. About half of young voters said they were "angry" about the way things were going, compared with about one-third of voters aged 65 and older. About six in 10 voters under 30 said one reason for their House vote was to express opposition to Trump, compared with about half of voters aged 30-44 and about four in 10 voters aged 45 and older.
Young voters moved towards the Democrats in each Senate race where the party picked up a seat, including in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio and North Carolina.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Who is Melat Kiros?
- She is a 29-year-old Ethiopian-born democratic socialist from Colorado, a lawyer turned doctoral student, who became the first Generation Z woman elected to Congress. She defeated 30-year incumbent Diana DeGette in the Denver-area primary.
- How did young voters vote in the 2026 US midterms?
- An Associated Press voter poll found about seven in 10 voters under 30 supported the Democratic candidate in their local House race, while about three in 10 voted Republican. That was a sharp shift from 2024, when the youngest voters were roughly split between Trump and Kamala Harris.
- How many Generation Z candidates ran for Congress in 2026?
- According to the organisation Future Caucus, 117 Generation Z candidates ran for Congress this year, and 24 won their primaries to reach Tuesday's ballot.
