26岁的夏安·亨特正在努力做她这一代人中唯一的一件事迄今为止所做的:当选国会议员。
代表加州第45选区的道路充满挑战:首先，亨特将在3月5日举行的初选中与其他六名候选人竞争。如果亨特在那里成功，她可能会与现任共和党人米歇尔·斯蒂尔(Michelle Steel)较量，后者在最近的竞选中以大约5%的优势获胜。
但是亨特的竞选有可能创造历史。她将成为国会中最年轻的女性——比目前拥有这一荣誉的众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥·科尔特斯(Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)小8岁——并将成为国会山第二位Z世代成员。
佛罗里达州民主党众议员麦克斯韦·弗罗斯特去年25岁当选，是Z世代的第一个成员进入国会。
亨特在接受采访时说，“我们整个联邦政府都缺少如此重要的代表性。”。
一位专家说，不管她的竞选结果如何，她的候选人资格反映了她这一代人在达到竞选国会议员的资格年龄时日益增长的政治力量。
洛约拉·玛丽蒙特大学法学教授兼政治评论员杰西卡·莱文森说:“与上一代人这个年龄相比，现在有更多的Z一代人在竞选公职，这意味着他们在政治上更加活跃。”
亨特是加利福尼亚州奥兰治县人，曾任参议院助理，她说她清楚地记得自己的第一次政治经历，那是在四年级，当时她了解了气候变化，并受到阿尔·戈尔(Al Gore)关于这一主题的纪录片《难以忽视的真相》(An incentive Truth)的启发。
她说，高等教育、由单身母亲抚养长大以及成功的决心帮助她发现了更好地为社区服务的激情。
她认为需要更多的年轻人进入国会，据统计，截至今年1月，众议院投票成员的平均年龄接近58岁皮尤研究中心.
亨特说:“如果有其他人加入进来，我会很高兴，但整个国家唯一竞选国会议员的Z世代女性确实令人生畏。”。
“很明显，除非有人(参加竞选)，否则我将是唯一的女性，”她说。“我还认为这反映了我们的权力体系和年轻女性普遍面临的准入障碍。”
正在进行的地区追捕包括阿纳海姆地区的部分地区，距离她由单亲母亲和祖母抚养长大的地方大约半小时的路程，他们都是从叙利亚移民过来的。
亨特在丹佛大学获得了政治学和公共政策的双学位，然后在加州大学欧文分校获得了法律学位。
她后来成为明尼苏达州参议员艾米·克洛布查尔(Amy Klobuchar)的法律和政策事务员，包括参与对时任总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的首次弹劾审判——他被判无罪——以及技术政策，她说，这是为了促进主要科技公司的问责制。
她还在非营利消费者权益组织Public Citizen工作过，她在抖音建立了相对知名的社交媒体受众，在那里她有超过90，000名粉丝。
“我使用社交媒体主要是作为一种教育工具。我就是这样开始的...我想了想我想在网上看到更多的东西，坦率地说，这是关于政策问题的微妙对话，要么是媒体忽视了，要么是他们没有时间深入探讨，”亨特说。
她认为马萨诸塞州众议员艾安娜·普莱斯利。因为她激励她追求政治生涯。
引用普莱斯利的话，亨特说，“政策是我的爱语。这成了我想要提供服务的方式，并真正将一些痛苦转化为变化。”
亨特的政治纲领以气候变化、经济和堕胎权利为中心，包括支持在全国范围内将堕胎合法化的立法。
“我觉得这是我的责任...亨特说:“那种认为我们这一代女性的权利比我们的母亲和祖母少的观点是绝对令人憎恶的，坦率地说，这是一种全球尴尬。”
众议员米歇尔·斯蒂尔，R-亨廷顿海滩，于2022年9月26日在她位于加利福尼亚州布埃纳公园的竞选办公室向支持者发表讲话。
Paul berse Bach/media news Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images，文件
亨特的潜在对手斯蒂尔曾表示，她同意美国最高法院推翻罗诉韦德案对堕胎权的国家保障。
“堕胎应该留给各州，”斯蒂尔说告诉洛杉矶时报部分原因是去年。
“就我个人而言，我是反堕胎的，除了在强奸、乱伦和保护母亲生命的情况下，我不相信堕胎，”斯蒂尔说。
周一晚上，斯蒂尔的竞选团队向美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)发送了一份关于这位候选人当前关切的声明。
斯蒂尔的竞选发言人兰斯·特罗弗(Lance Trover)在声明中说，“当其他候选人都在玩抖音游戏或试图向公众隐瞒他们的背景时，米歇尔·斯蒂尔实际上正在通过一项法案，以对抗中国，支持我们的以色列盟友，并降低工薪家庭的医疗费用。”
莱文森说，自罗伊案被推翻以来的选举表明，堕胎可能是选民的一个激励因素。“我们可以看到，共和党人可能错误估计了(最高法院)裁决的政治影响，”她说。
亨特还发起了解决无家可归问题的运动，她说她的选区在解决高生活成本问题上失败了。
“如果普通美国人现在离破产只差一笔意外的医疗费用，你就失去了梦想的自由，”她说。
Steel还试图强调高成本以及如何解决“无家可归流行病”，包括通过更多的就业机会和社会服务，医疗保健和扩大经济适用房。
斯蒂尔在她的竞选网站上说:“我将永远与华盛顿不计后果的支出问题作斗争，这一问题正使工人阶级家庭越来越负担不起生活。”
莱文森说，亨特要赢得斯蒂尔的席位还有一场“艰苦的战斗”，部分原因是斯蒂尔的筹款优势和更高的知名度。
“米歇尔·斯蒂尔在这个地区仍然很受欢迎...她可以用一种没有人挑战她的方式来传达她的信息，”莱文森说。“这的确很重要。”
亨特说，她的信息不仅仅反映在她的候选资格上。
“你不必竞选国会议员来改变这个系统。你们投票的力量是深远的，”她说。"登记另外五个人投票的力量是深远的。"
At 26, California Democrat hopes to become second member of Gen Z in Congress
Cheyenne Hunt, at 26 years old, is running to do something only one other person in her generationhas done so far: Get elected to Congress.
It's a challenging road ahead to representing California's 45th District: First, Hunt is running against six other candidates in the primary, scheduled for March 5. If Hunt succeeds there, she'll likely take on incumbent Republican Michelle Steel, who won her most recent race by about 5%.
But Hunt's campaign has the potential to make history. She'd be the youngest woman in Congress -- eight years younger than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who currently has that distinction -- and would become just the second member of Generation Z on Capitol Hill.
Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, elected last year at 25,was the first member of Generation Zto enter Congress.
"We're missing such vital representation in our entire federal government," Hunt said in an interview.
Regardless of the outcome of her race, her candidacy reflects her generation's increasing political power as they reach the qualifying age to run for Congress, an expert said.
"A greater percentage of Gen Z are running for office than when the last generation was this age, meaning they are more politically active," said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Marymount University law professor and political commentator.
Hunt, an Orange County, California, native and former Senate aide, said she clearly remembers her first political experience, in the fourth grade, when she learned about climate change and was inspired by Al Gore's documentary on the subject, "An Inconvenient Truth."
Higher education, being raised by a single mother and a determination to succeed helped her discover her passion to better serve her community, she said.
She believes more young people need to be in Congress, where the median age of voting members of the House was nearly 58 years old as of January, according to thePew Research Center.
"I'd love it if someone else jumped in, but the only Gen Z woman running for Congress in the entire country is really intimidating," Hunt said.
"It's becoming clear that I'm going to be the only woman unless somebody [comes in the race]," she said. "And I also think it speaks to our systems of power and the barriers to entry for young women generally."
The district Hunt is running in includes parts of the Anaheim area, about half an hour from where she was raised by her single mother and grandmother, both of whom emigrated from Syria.
Hunt obtained a dual degree in political science and public policy from the University of Denver and then earned a law degree from the University of California at Irvine.
She went on to be a law and policy clerk for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., including working on the first impeachment trial of then-President Donald Trump -- he was acquitted -- and on technology policy to, she has said, promote accountability for major tech companies.
She has also worked at Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, and she's built a relatively notable social media audience on TikTok, where she has more than 90,000 followers.
"I use social media primarily as an educational tool. That was how it started for me ... I thought about what I want to see more of online and it was, frankly, nuanced conversation about policy issues that either the media was overlooking or they didn't have the kind of time to do a deep dive on," Hunt said.
She credits Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., for inspiring her to pursue a career in politics.
Quoting Pressley, Hunt said, "Policy is my love language. It became the way that I wanted to be of service and really translate some of that pain into change."
Hunt's political platform centers on climate change, the economy and abortion rights, including supporting legislation that would codify abortion access nationwide.
"I feel like it's my duty ... the idea that we are a generation of women that has fewer rights than our mothers and grandmothers is an absolute abomination and, frankly, a global embarrassment," Hunt said.
Steel, Hunt's potential opponent, has said she agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade's national guarantee to abortion access.
"Abortions should be left to the states," Steeltold The Los Angeles Timeslast year, in part.
"Personally, I am pro-life and do not believe in abortions except in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the life of the mother," Steel said then.
On Monday night, Steel’s campaign sent ABC News a statement about the candidate’s immediate concerns.
"While the rest of the candidates are playing on TikTok or trying to hide their background from the public, Michelle Steel is actually passing legislation that takes on China, supports our Israeli allies, and lowering health care costs for working families," Lance Trover, Steel’s Campaign spokesperson, said in the statement.
Levinson said that elections since Roe was reversed indicate abortion can be a motivating factor for voters. "And we can see that Republicans may have miscalculated the political impact of the [Supreme Court] decision," she said.
Hunt is also campaigning on addressing homelessness and said that her district has failed in addressing the high cost of living.
"If the average American is now one unexpected medical bill away from bankruptcy, you have lost your freedom to dream," she said.
Steel has also sought to highlight high costs and how to address the "homelessness epidemic," including through more jobs and social services, health care and expanding affordable housing units.
"I will always fight Washington’s reckless spending problem that is making life increasingly unaffordable for working class families," Steel said on her campaign website.
Levinson said Hunt has an "uphill battle" to win Steel's seat, in part because of Steel's fundraising advantage and higher profile.
"Michelle Steele is still popular in the district and ... she can get her message out in a way that nobody challenges her," Levinson said. "And that does matter."
Hunt said her message isn't just reflected in her candidacy.
"You don't have to run for Congress to make a difference in the system. The power of your vote is profound," she said. "The power of registering five other people to vote is profound."
