Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, a 30-year-old Ohio attorney running for an open House seat as a Republican, fits the common, popular image of a “Young Gun.” Former Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Maine, making a House comeback bid at age 68? Not so much.
Both are being touted by the House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, as part of its “Young Guns” candidate program. Gesiotto Gilbert is seeking a newly created House seat, the 13th Congressional District, in the southern suburbs of Akron and Cleveland. Poliquin previously represented Maine’s sprawling 2nd Congressional District and is now running for it again against Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, to whom he lost in 2018 after four years in office.
TRUMP ANNOUNCING 2024 BID BEFORE MIDTERMS COULD BACKFIRE, INVITE MORE COMPETITION
Other “Young Gun” candidates have been around politics for years. In California’s 47th Congressional District, covering coastal Orange County and communities a bit inland, Republican attorney Scott Baugh, 60, is challenging Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who first won election to the House in 2018 by beating an incumbent Republican. Baugh was a member of the California State Assembly from 1995 to 2000, with his final 19 months in office spent leading the Republican conference as minority leader.
In everyday life, the “Young Gun” term generally applies to a young person who is successful or who is expected to be successful, whether in a law firm, in sports, or in other endeavors.
To be sure, there’s no specified age limit to qualify as a “Young Guns” House candidate, part of Republican efforts to win back the majority the party lost in the 2018 Democratic wave. House Republicans need to net five seats in the 435-member chamber, a task seemingly made easier by President Joe Biden’s sinking approval ratings, the worst inflation in 40 years, and stubbornly high gas prices.
The term “Young Guns” first became popular in political circles after an October 2007 magazine article touting a trio of younger lawmakers, Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Paul Ryan (R-WI). Only McCarthy is still in office and is the House minority leader. McCarthy is poised to become speaker if House Republicans are in the majority in November.
And many 2022 House Republican “Young Gun” candidates are in the early part of their political careers. In North Carolina’s newly created 13th Congressional District, GOP nominee Bo Hines is 26. State Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, 32, is running for New York’s 18th Congressional District, covering a swath of counties north and west of New York City. And Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, 37, is running in California’s 5th Congressional District, stretching hundreds of miles along the Nevada state line.
The NRCC this week announced that it added 10 House Republican candidates to the “Young Guns” program. That includes Guy Ciarrochi, in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, who is challenging Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). Also, small-business owner Regan Deering is running for Illinois’s open 13th Congressional District. There’s also Anthony D’Esposito in New York’s 13th Congressional District. The Hempstead town councilman is seeking to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice in the Long Island seat, which has been somewhat redrawn in redistricting. And Sam Peters, a business owner, is running against Steven Horsford (D-NV) for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District in the northern Las Vegas suburbs.
Other new “Young Gun” candidates include attorney and Georgia Air National Guard officer Chris West, who is looking to unseat longtime Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA); businessman Mike Erickson, who is running in Oregon’s new 6th Congressional District; former TV news anchor Paul Junge, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District; Colorado state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer; former Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in Illinois’s 6th Congressional District; and financial planner Mark Robertson in Nevada’s 1st Congressional District.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The 10 additions join 36 people previously tapped to be “Young Guns,” including Poliquin in Maine and Baugh in California.
