Made in America: Lindy Li, 24, seeks to be the youngest member of Congress

Lindy Li has won the endorsements of  

WATCH OUT, Lindy Li is running for Congress because ... why not? She's all of 24 years of age.

"The granddaughter of illiterate Chinese farmers is running for Congress," she exults proudly.

If elected, she would be the youngest representative in Congress. But the minimum age for Congress is 25, you say? Li has perfect timing, She will turn 25 this December and if she makes it to Nov. 2016 and wins, she'll be 26 when she is sworn in in January, 2017. At present, the youngest member of Congress is an ancient 30. That would be New York's Rep. Elise Stefanik. The average age of Congress is 57.

"There is going to be a lot of skepticism because of my age but patriotism, love of country, has no age," she was quoted by Princeton's web portal.

Li is running for a seat in Pennsylvania's 7th District, which includes Delaware County and other Philadelphia suburbs. It is an uphill battle in her bid to unseat 3-term incumbent Rep. Patrick Meehan, a Republican and former U.S. attorney. 


She immigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was 5-years old. She grew up here.

Her district is not a bastion of Asian/Americans, or even people of color, but that doesn't deter her. On her website, the slogan, "Made In America" blunts any xenophobia that may lurking out there. In a letter she wrote to voters in her district, she says:

America is a land of promise and new beginnings, a beacon for the rest of the world. Arriving with nothing but a suitcase of dreams, my family and I have spent fifteen years in beloved Pennsylvania. I became the woman I am today, walking its soothing slopes and reading beneath its gentle trees. That America welcomed us with nurturing arms is a debt that I can never fully repay, though my bid to serve you is the first step on a lifelong journey: to revive that “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” 

The 7th District is severely gerrymandered.

What does it say about who we are as a nation that the highest bidder so often prevails? We don’t elect our leaders to fundraise all day or to be sucked into the vortex of the perpetual campaign. We don’t elect them to serve special interests at your expense or to strategically posture in front of the hungry camera lens. Nor do we send them to Washington so they can grow rich in office, scaling the ladders of power. Rather, we seek leaders with integrity, moderation, and unwavering confidence, knowing that compromise is necessary in a democracy but unbending ideology is not. Herein lies the difference between a stateswoman and a politician.

I refuse to give up on our country and ask you to join me today as we breathe fresh life into the great American promise ...  I’m thankful that life has not been easy and that I’ve struggled for my American dream. Just as a tree can only grow as tall as its roots, so the measure of my ability is the measure of the challenges that I’ve overcome. ...

Being so young, this is her first try to run for a public office. Her previous experience was  getting elected as the class president, four-years straight, at Princeton University, where she graduated with a major in Philosophy. She quit her job on Wall Street to concentrate on her campaign.

It would be a mistake to discount her on the basis of her age or ethnicity. Li has already received endorsement and support from Democrats politicians, including former vice-president Albert Gore, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, since she announced the bid. If passion and energy won elections, Li would win in a landslide. But her lack of experience - political and real-life - may be her Achilles heel.

First, there is the Democratic primary in 2016 where she faces In  two other experienced Democrats: Mary Ellen Balchunis, a  political science professor who ran for the seat in 2014, and Dave Naples, a database administrator who was a write-in candidate for governor. 

Even if she is unsuccessful, she told an interviewer from the Washington Post, "Congressional elections are every two years." Lindy Li hates to lose.

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