Why are so many California Congresspeople so old?

[Zioneer]

So I've been checking on Wikipedia, and I never realized that both of California's senators are in their 70s, and that many/most of their Congresspeople are at least 60, if not 70. Why are California politicians much older than most of their Congressional colleagues?

[freepcrusher]

California politics is machine oriented and a lot of the candidates go back to the 70s and 80s. Waxman Miller and Pelosi were the products of the Burton machine and some of the other congressmen are products of the Waxman-Berman machine.

[Zioneer]

California politics is machine oriented and a lot of the candidates go back to the 70s and 80s. Waxman Miller and Pelosi were the products of the Burton machine and some of the other congressmen are products of the Waxman-Berman machine.

So the current "machine" is the Waxman-Berman machine, then? How does it operate?

Also, how can I tell what kind of machine (in either party) my state has? Does Utah even have a political machine? Or is there a different term for the Utah version?

[badgate]

Where is the machine housed? Is it a dangerous machine if it gets out of hand? Does it take diesel or unleaded?

[bgwah]

From what I understand, until 2010 California's redistricting system resulted in rather extreme pro-incumbent gerrymanders.

[DINGO Joe]

Probably simple math.  Every state has one governor and two senators.  If a state has 4 or 10 congressman the risk/reward for moving up is much greater than in a state with 50+.  Plus California has done nothing but add Congressmen, states that shrink has Congressmen go up against each other (although Sherman-Berman would be an exception to that.

[minionofmidas]

California added just one seat (2%) in 2000 and drew an extremely effective incumbent protection map that year. There also hasn't been a change in Senate representation since 1992; only Iowa's junior senator is even less junior IIRC. Nor is it particularly feasible to run for Governor from the US House in California. So most of these people had been in lifetime jobs for the past 12 to 20 years, sometimes more in naturally safe seats, until the 2012 remap shook things up.

[adma]

And, California being California, a lot of them are "younger at heart" than the norm, I suppose...

[justfollowingtheelections]

Unlike congresspeople in other states, Californians can't get promoted because the state only has 2 senators.  They're also very polarized with the Bay and SoCal being very Democratic and the more sparsely populated (as well as a few suburban areas) being very Republican, which means that you it's unlikely a district will end up being competitive at some point.  The people elected therefore keep their seat forever unless someone from their own party challenges them.

[sg0508]

Gerrymandering.

[pbrower2a]

So I've been checking on Wikipedia, and I never realized that both of California's senators are in their 70s, and that many/most of their Congresspeople are at least 60, if not 70. Why are California politicians much older than most of their Congressional colleagues?

Safe seats. Most of the wealth in California is real estate bought cheaply a long time ago or either sold dearly long ago or still owned and being leased dearly. Proposition 13, which keeps tax rates low for any long-term holding of real estate, favors real estate over just about anyone else. The elderly have the wealth and the young are far poorer.

[Napoleon]

Having hyper-restrictive term limits in the state legislature doesn't help Congressional elections become more competitive either. California's political diversity is restrained by geography.

[minionofmidas]

Having hyper-restrictive term limits in the state legislature doesn't help Congressional elections become more competitive either.

Oh yes. Good point.