The Democratic National Convention brought delegates from across the country to Chicago in celebration of the Harris-Walz ticket, building on the historic momentum and energy that is already paving the path to victory in November. From the youngest, first-time delegates to the DNC’s oldest delegate at 95 years old, they represent all walks of life and are telling the stories of Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, and Democrats up and down the ballot.
Here’s what voters are reading and watching about this year’s DNC delegates…
Mother Jones:Meet the Oldest Delegate at the DNC
Key Point: “Angie, who has been a Pittsburgh-area party official for more than six decades, is there as the convention’s oldest delegate. She’s 95 now, and says she’s most excited about young people getting their start in politics, like she did as a 15 year old growing up in Pennsylvania…. After eighty years in the fray, Angie is urging a new generation to step up. ‘It’s time young people should have the voice and daggonit, they better have the opportunity to express it,’ she says. ‘There’s been this closed door thing. ‘Oh, you’re too young.’ No! Do it. Express yourself. Let people know what you want and how you feel.’”
CNN: Meet the oldest and youngest delegates at the DNC
Key Point: Angie Gialloreto: “It’s an exciting time for me. I struggled with my generation, but today, you have such young, intelligent people and don’t hold back.”
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: From Carter to Harris: Pennsylvania woman is oldest delegate at the DNC
Key Point: “‘I am a Democrat, and I started when I was very young,’ said Gialloreto, who said she has been a committee woman in Wilkins Township for 66 years. This year’s election, she said, feels different than many past years. ‘It’s a new generation, women and people of color are finally not being overlooked and bypassed. It’s a beginning of a new American freedom.’”
C-SPAN: West Virginia Delegation Roll Call
Key Point: “My name is Jean Evansmore and I am 83 years old. As such, I am the oldest of the delegates in West Virginia. Most 83 year olds that I know are spending time with their grandchildren or traveling. But I’m here suited up and ready to battle because I will not, I repeat, I will not let everything I worked for be taken away by Donald Trump. My name is Kathryn Prather, I am 18 years old and I am the youngest delegate from West Virginia. I am suited up and ready for battle because I will not let my freedom and my future be taken away by Donald Trump!”
New York Times: Three Delegates, Decades Apart in Age, Converge at the Democratic National Convention
Key Point: “Among the nearly 4,700 delegates gathered in Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention: United States senators and representatives. Top state officials. Leaders of major advocacy groups and labor unions. Democrats aspiring to become one or more of the above.
“And hundreds of people with full-time jobs unrelated to politics, known only within their communities for the political work they do in their spare time.
“The youngest delegates are teenagers attending their first convention before they have even voted in their first general election. The oldest have well over a dozen conventions under their belts.”
Teen Vogue: Young DNC Attendees, Delegates on Kamala Harris, 2024, and Behind the Scenes of the Convention
Key Point: “TV: ‘How do you feel about the upcoming election?’
“Jonnika Kwon: ‘Super excited! I think I speak for a lot of young people in saying that we truly feel like, in Vice President Harris, we have a candidate who represents us, who understands us. And that’s something really important, to have constituents, young people, all different identity groups feel like they have a representative in government — even better, the President of the United States — who truly cares about them and understands their experiences.
“Rohana [Joshi]: ‘This election really represents hope, rather than fear. We really do see progress on the ballot this year.… The next president is [likely] going to be picking the next three to four Supreme Court justices who will be serving for, at least, probably a decade. And this really determines the course of life for generations.”
The National: ‘Is this what hope feels like?’ Young delegates at DNC energised by Harris-Walz ticket
Key Point: “‘Being a young Democrat means being joyful,’ David Seaton, who says he is one of the youngest delegates to attend the convention in Chicago representing the state of Massachusetts, told The National.
“‘We have been a party that has been demoralised for a long time … but now we have a candidate for the first time in a few years, who really is energising and motivating us to get out there and support.’”
Wisconsin Public Radio: Youngest Wisconsin delegates at DNC advocate for technology and transportation
Key Point: “As the Democratic National Convention continues in Chicago, a pair of delegates from southeastern Wisconsin are some of the youngest individuals representing the state — and the tech industry
“Nadiyah Johnson, the CEO and founder of the Milky Way Tech Hub, told WPR’s ‘Wisconsin Today,’ her company is one of the leading tech hubs in the Midwest.
“‘I wanted to be a delegate to represent that community of techies and tech professionals,’ she said.”
WMUR: Youngest-ever NH Democratic delegate plays key role at convention
Key Point: Aliyana Koch-Manzur: “The energy in the room was so electric, I didn’t even have time to be nervous. I just was so happy standing there surrounded by these amazingly strong women who are true role models for me in New Hampshire Politics and to be able to be a part of such a historic roll call and help elect our first woman president of the United States, It’s just an irreplaceable opportunity and I’m so thankful.”
Fox News 9: DNC’s youngest delegates from Minnesota representing the youth vote
Key Point: “As the youngest delegates at the convention, [Beatrice Schierer and Isaac Winkler] are high school seniors who will not be old enough to vote until the week before the election.
“But they’re at the convention to represent a new generation of voters, and seeing the convention with completely fresh eyes.
“They stand out together among the 93 delegates from Minnesota at the Democratic National Convention.”
Fox News 32 Chicago: 19-year-old Northbrook woman attends DNC as Illinois’ youngest delegate: ‘I have hope for the future’
Key Point: “While most of them are political veterans, Fox 32’s Dane Placko found one delegate from the north suburbs who’s still a teenager and voting in her first presidential election.
“‘I’ve met so many cool people,’ said 19-year-old Claire Satkiewicz. ‘And to be able to see some of my favorite political leaders speak like Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders yesterday was very cool.”
CBS Koin 6: 18-year-old is Oregon’s youngest delegate attending Democratic National Convention in Chicago
Key Point: “Teh, the youngest delegate from Oregon this year, told KOIN 6 News he funded the trip himself.
“‘I kind of ran a miniature campaign, with a website, with photos, and eventually by March or April, I was elected,’ he said.”
Channel 3000: Meet Henry Fries, one of Wisconsin’s youngest delegates
Key Point: “‘It is probably one of the most exciting states to be involved in politics in and be a delegate from, because you’re a part of that process, not just witnessing it,’ said Dane County District 5 Supervisor and Wisconsin delegate, Henry Fries. Fries is 19-years-old, just old enough to qualify as a delegate.”
CT Mirror: New Haven 17-year-old casts DNC’s youngest vote for Harris
Key Point: “The delegate, Jacob Schonberger, is the youngest of the party’s roughly 4,700 delegates, said DNC senior spokesman Kevin Munoz. […]
“Schonberger joined other delegates in formally voting electronically to nominate Harris before the convention. Tuesday’s planned roll call is a ceremonial show of support.
“Schonberger said he was thrilled to cheer along with an SRO crowd in the [United] Center Monday night as party leaders like Harris and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock delivered rousing speeches seeking to build momentum for the general election campaign.”
WKRN: ‘Anyone can make a change’: Tennessee teen is state’s youngest DNC delegate
Key Point: “The young man [18 year old William Mendoza-Euceda] referred to his attendance at the convention as a momentous occasion. He told News 2 this is a sign that his hard work over the last few years of door-knocking and campaigning is paying off not just for him, but for the future of his party as well.
“‘I believe that Tennessee is not a red state,’ Mendoza-Euceda said. ‘It’s a nonvoting state because we’re super low turnout. I’ve been door-knocking since I was 15, and I’ve seen how we win elections and sometimes we lose elections by very small margins, and it’s all because of that door knock that we do.’”
Copper Courier: I’m one of AZ’s youngest delegates. Here’s why I’m supporting Kamala Harris for president.
Key Point: “My name is Dhruv Rebba, and I’m one of Arizona’s youngest delegates heading to Chicago to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz as our Democratic ticket. When I started college two years ago as a STEM major, I never would have guessed that I’d be this involved in politics. I always figured ‘other people will take care of our country.’”
WCNC: Meet North Carolina’s youngest Democratic delegate
Key Point: “‘I was born in 2006, 2008 being Barack Obama’s first time elected. I think that I have lived through probably one of the most politically tumultuous times in recent US history,’ 18-year-old Eric Willoughby, North Carolina’s youngest Democratic delegate, said.”
KING 5: Meet Washington’s youngest DNC delegate
Key Point: “‘Being the future, representing the future of this country, I think it’s really important that young people have a seat at the table,’ said Jonnika Kwon, a DNC delegate for Washington’s 1st Congressional District.”
Vermont Public Radio: Vermont’s youngest delegate at the DNC: ‘This is my future. I want to have a say in it.’
Key Point: “Addie Lentzner: …‘A lot of times, politicians will talk so much about how they love getting out the youth vote and how much they support youth vote and how much they need the youth vote, but when it comes to actual politics and actual being in the room, a lot of times, youth aren’t there. And so I think having the youngest delegation coming from Vermont and having such such young young people involved is so powerful, and it sends a message that young people are not just receivers, but we want to be part of the solution too, and we want to be part of the journey to bettering politics.’”
Axios Columbus: Homework is on hold for 18-year-old DNC delegate
Key Point: “Christian Pearson recently began his senior year at Marion Harding High School, but he’s spending this week in Chicago as an Ohio delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
“Why it matters: The 18-year-old is one of the youngest delegates in the country, representing a generation energized by Vice President Kamala Harris’ position at the top of the Democratic ticket.”
WFMZ: 6th Congressional District delegates represent young, powerful Pa voting voice
Key Point: “‘I’ve been knocking doors since I was 14. I’ve been doing volunteer work since I was 12, stuffing envelopes, making phone calls,’said Keran Francke.
“This as Ellie Goluboff-Schragger canvassed for Hillary Clinton in 2016 as a 12-year-old.
“20-year-old Goulboff-Schragger and 23-year-old Francke are 6th Congressional District delegates.
“They represent a young but powerful Pennsylvania voting voice.”
Palmetto Politics: South Carolina’s youngest DNC delegate is 17, Harvard-bound, ready for Gen Z’s ‘Obama moment’
Key Point: “Annika Krovi is no ordinary teenager.
“The 17-year-old from Greenville has met Vice President Kamala Harris multiple times, led a national political organization some 11,000 members strong and spent years in the trenches of campaign work before she could even cast a ballot of her own. […]
“As one of the youngest delegates at the Democratic National Convention, Krovi’s passion for public service is both precocious and profound.”
