Yes, the Head of the North Carolina Democrats Is 25 — So What?

There are a ton of young people who want to do something in politics right now. One of the big things I want to focus on this year is lowering that barrier to entry and giving young people access to me, access to this administration, and making sure that they feel really welcomed into our NCDP headquarters in Raleigh. I would happily go to their high schools, to their colleges, to their community colleges, and all of their campuses to talk to them about why it’s important that they get out this year and vote.

We had some students from Fayetteville State University come into Goodwin House the other day, and their professor looked at them and was like, “This is 25! She is 25! You can do anything!” And these students audibly gasped. It was just crazy! I was like, “Oh, my God, this is what I need to be doing!” Just going around and showing folks that [Goodwin House] is my house and that this is what you can do when you’re 25 — because so many people have told you that you can’t. There’s a power in being like, “Yes, I can. Look at Anderson Clayton.”

TV: Over the past couple of years on your social media, I’ve seen pictures of you and other Democrats working in the state and it seems as though you might be the youngest person in the room. Has that been your experience?

AC: Yeah, it has been. Especially in the positions I’ve been in. 

What I will say, though, is that young Democrats power the North Carolina Democratic Party. They have for so long. I tell people that my win was a culmination of young people that came before me. I think of it as a railroad track, honestly. They laid their bodies out on the line and got railed over. And that sounds sad to say, but we know it’s true. Young people in this party know it is true — how you have been told to wait your turn, to sit down and be quiet, that young people are supposed to be seen and not heard. This is the whole mentality that we’ve always been given. 

How I got here is by young people running campaigns. They made us legitimate. There were young people that came before me who professionalized everything. They said to every establishment person in our party, plus just older folks in our party, “No, young people are capable and I’m going to show you how. I’m going to prove to you that a young person can do this.” They had to prove that for someone like me to end up in a role like this. It was young people that ran my campaign. 

The one thing I want everyone to come away with is this: This win is a young person’s win, everywhere. Across the country, across our state. For us to be able to do something like this and to build it up, it’s also got to be something we can continue. I feel a lot of pressure in being able to maintain and being able to carry North Carolina into 2024. I want to show people that young people are so capable.

TV: What would you say is the importance of having young voices represented in positions like the one you’re in? 

AC: Young people are hopeful. Young people are optimistic. Young people have visions like none other about the wild things they want to do. People need to look at that and not try to crush it. They need to look at it and say, “Wow, that’s so beautiful — I want to make these things happen.” I want to make somebody’s dreams and their ability to succeed be a reality.

When we start to do that is when the Democratic Party really will start to move into a multigenerational type of party, which is what it should be — embracing every generation. We all have something to learn from each other, right? And that’s really what it’s about.

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