Meet the Gen Z Candidates Running for Congress in 2024

Cheyenne Hunt, an attorney, advocate, and TikTok star, cut her teeth as a grassroots organizer working on getting dark money out of politics. Since then, she’s spent time on Capitol Hill as a law and policy clerk for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, where she worked on building former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment case, as well as on technology policy while pushing for Big Tech accountability. She formerly worked at Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. Now, she’s running for Congress in California’s 45th district, a seat currently held by GOP Rep. Michelle Steel, who’s running for reelection.

The 26-year-old told Teen Vogue her decision to run is a response to the urgency of “a number of existential threats.”

“Young folks, our generations, have been forced to watch while idle politicians really allow this backsliding on their watch and are not being good stewards of the future that they’re passing on for us,” Hunt said. “Whether it’s the environment, women’s bodily autonomy, the economy, and leaving behind an economy that works for a handful of folks at the top and is ringing the rest of us out to dry – these are issues that really get to the core of our fundamental rights and our longevity on this planet.”

Hunt has over 91,000 followers on TikTok and 3.7 million likes on the platform. She’s posted while on a picket line at a strike on Labor Day, shown her followers the shoes she wears while on the campaign trail, and regularly responds to national political news of the day. “[Social media] is something that’s definitely a huge asset for us because we’re talking to people where they are,” she Hunt.

But despite her ability to connect with younger audiences, experience, and success in raising the most money of any candidate in her primary race so far, according to data from the Federal Election Commission, Hunt said her campaign has faced skepticism, “bias, sexism, [and] misogyny.”

“It is interesting to see the way that that misogyny compounds when it’s not just running as a woman, but running as a young woman,” said Hunt, who could be the first Gen Z woman elected to Congress.

Isaiah Martin

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