Former State Senator Will Haskell on Young People in Politics
In 2018, Will Haskell declared his intention to run for the 26th District of the Connecticut State Senate. Running on gun control, a stronger transportation system, and paid family leave, among other progressive causes, he would be going up against Republican incumbent Senator Toni Boucher, someone who had served in the state legislature for decades. And the thing was, he was only 21 years old.
Not only did he beat Senator Boucher, but he notched an endorsement from President Obama along the way, who Will credits for inspiring him to run. He published a book, 100,000 First Bosses: My Unlikely Path as a 22-Year-Old Lawmaker, chronicling his experience campaigning and governing, and left the office in 2023 optimistic about the direction of our politics.
But since then, our politics, even on the local and state level, have taken a turn. Whatever you think about what's going on in our country, it reflects peoples' deep cynicism with political systems' ability to deliver. That sentiment is particularly prevalent among young people. Will perhaps best represents what we thought Gen-Z was in 2018 -- but does does that identity still make sense in 2026?
