Meet the 30-somethings aiming to remake Georgia’s congressional delegation
The graying halls of Congress don’t usually evoke images of youthful ambition, but a record number of lawmakers are calling it quits in 2026.
And in Georgia, their replacements may look very different.
Two Republicans — 30-year-old state Rep. Houston Gaines of Athens and 35-year-old Savannah insurance executive Jim Kingston — have emerged as near-instant front-runners for a pair of open U.S. House seats. They are decades younger than the incumbents they are trying to replace — U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter, 68, and Mike Collins, 57.
Meanwhile, in northwest Georgia, a field that includes several younger Republicans is competing to succeed Marjorie Taylor Greene, 51, after she abruptly stepped down.
And even incumbents aren’t immune to generational pressure. U.S. Rep. David Scott, who is 80, faces a serious primary challenge from several fellow Democrats — including 32-year-old former Gwinnett school board chair Everton Blair.
If these younger candidates prevail, they would build on a generational shift in Georgia’s delegation that hastened in 2024 with the election of Republican Brian Jack, who was 36 when he won an open seat in west Georgia.
Overall, the median age of voting members of the U.S. House is currently 57.5 years, according to the Pew Research Center.
A family name
Kingston entered the race for a coastal Georgia district in June with a young donor network already in place: his kindergarten classmates from Savannah Country Day.
He’s already raised more than $1.6 million — including $100,000-plus from those long-ago classmates — far eclipsing the rest of the crowded field. His campaign says more than 45% of donors are under 40, and 40% had never given to a federal campaign before.
Only one of the other nine candidates has surpassed six-figures, and that hopeful lent his campaign $500,000 of the $580,000 reported as of Sept. 30.
That early strength has helped Kingston step out of the shadow of his father, former U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, who served 11 terms in Congress representing a similar district.
Jim Kingston is intent on running on his own merits. Ask him how his last name aids him on the campaign trail, and he’ll emphasize hustle over heredity, taking calls at all hours and wearing out tires driving across the sprawling district drawn for a Republican to win.
“Jim is being careful to run not as Jack’s son but to do this on his own, and that’s commendable,” said Eric Johnson, a Savannah architect and former GOP Senate leader. “He’s raising money and getting endorsements by working the crowds and being engaging.”
Salesmanship comes naturally to Kingston. He makes his living as an insurance salesperson and has worked in Atlanta and Savannah. His age is at the core of his pitch — young energy and new ideas are needed to reinvigorate Congress and move past the defeatist “you-can’t-get-anything-done-anymore” narrative.
“As I have crisscrossed the state in the private sector, I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘I’m working hard, and my business isn’t doing as well as I want, but I really feel like Congress has my back,’” Kingston said.
“I’m telling people what I think I can do, even if it might not be popular or might not be traditional. What’s popular and what’s traditional has failed us at this point.”
But Kingston’s age and thin leadership credentials pose drawbacks, according to primary election rival Pat Farrell.
A veteran local elected official, Farrell questions the depth of Kingston’s “lived experiences” and his many years living in Atlanta, far from the district he now seeks to represent. He has lived in the Savannah suburb of Isle of Hope for much of the last five years but maintains a second residence in Atlanta near his employer’s headquarters.
“Prior accomplishments are a good indicator of future performance,” said Farrell, a Chatham County commissioner since 2004.
From student government to the U.S. House?
In the northeast part of the state, Gaines is attempting one of the fastest political leaps in Georgia, from student president of the University of Georgia to a potential seat in Congress in barely a decade.
He first won legislative office as a 23-year-old when he defeated then-state Rep. Deborah Gonzalez, a rising Democratic star, and quickly made his mark at the state Capitol thanks partly to a close alliance with another GOP political figure based in Athens: Gov. Brian Kemp.
Since then, Gaines has helped steer GOP priorities on crime and prosecution. He backed hard-line immigration crackdowns after the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student slain on UGA’s campus by a migrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. unlawfully.
And he sponsored a 2023 law giving the state new powers to investigate, sanction or oust local prosecutors — a move fueled in part by frustration with Gonzalez, who later served as Athens district attorney.
Democrats question Gaines’ authenticity. Lexy Doherty, a Democratic opponent, said his loyalty required a “sudden MAGA makeover” to win over local Republicans.
Gaines rejects that criticism, pointing to a history of supporting the president’s priorities. He says Washington will be frustrating — but argues that’s precisely why younger lawmakers are needed.
“I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m going to be extremely frustrated in Congress because I know that the way it operates is very different than we do at the statehouse,” he said. “But we need folks, particularly young people, who know how to get stuff done.”
A new normal?
Gaines and Kingston are part of a growing wave of younger candidates running for Congress. Across the nation, dozens of contenders under 40 are lining up for U.S. House seats, fueled by calls for generational change — and, in some cases, a more confrontational brand of politics.
Their ranks grew with Greene’s departure, with 32-year-old state Sen. Colton Moore among the contenders for the northwest Georgia seat. The special election to fill that post is March 10.
As for Scott’s Democratic primary challenger, Blair said he was motivated to run after attending one of the octogenarian’s events a few months ago and leaving troubled by what he called a lack of urgency.
“I was waiting for a rallying cry or a message of hope or resistance for the fight against us. And I got nothing,” Blair said.
“It became really clear we need a new representative, a new generation of leadership with new fight, new ideas and new leadership.”
About the Authors
Adam Van Brimmer is a journalist who covers politics and Coastal Georgia news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
