In 2020, Trump was the incumbent president, and thus unlikely to face a serious challenge, even though he was older than Reagan when he sought reelection.

But Democrats had lots of younger options, including South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (38), California Rep. Eric Swalwell (39), Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (39), Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton (42), Andrew Yang (45), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro (46), Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan (47), and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (48), and yet Biden (77), Sanders (79), and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (71) were some of the last candidates standing.

Age and experience came to be a necessary asset to the important mission of defeating Trump, potentially hurting younger candidates who didn’t seem prepared to accomplish the desired mission. Biden was nominated in 2020, not as a function of his age but his ability to defeat Trump (with significant help from Black voters). Democrats kind of backed into an aging candidate.

The incumbency dynamic is a key reason why alternatives, younger or otherwise, didn’t prevail in 2024.

As the sitting president, Biden was unlikely to have a serious primary. Rising stars in the Democratic Party realized that age was not enough to carry a challenge to the incumbent. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips decided to give it a shot anyway, and his bid was met with crickets. Democratic primary voters decided early on that uniting behind their flawed incumbent, aging and all, was better than risking a divided party behind a 55-year-old unknown congressman or someone else younger than Biden.

And Trump is effectively the incumbent on the Republican side. He never admitted defeat, never stopped running and has remained the leader of the GOP. There were credible, younger options, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (45), Vivek Ramaswamy (38) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (52), but GOP primary voters weren’t interested. They’ve kept Trump on his pedestal for years because they value his style, policies or brand in spite of his age, not because of his age. In other words, Trump’s brand of celebrity and business transcends his profile as an aging politician. Also, his attention to his physical appearance has masked some of his elder qualities.

“Why these two choices?”

So why are general election voters faced with a choice between the same two old white guys again? Because primary voters chose them. Trump and Biden enjoy support from the vast majority of their parties. Republican primary voters had younger options in 2016 and 2024 but chose to stick with Trump. Democratic primary voters had multiple younger options in 2020. If age had been a big enough concern in 2024, then Democrats would have expedited their efforts to replace Biden with someone else.

It can also be hard for younger candidates to compete with older politicians. Age can have positive side effects, from higher name identification and a coalition of allies to larger platforms and, maybe most importantly, a broader fundraising network. Those can take time to build and curate.

One way to clear the path for younger politicians is to force aging politicians into retirement. The Constitution already discriminates with age minimums (25 years old to serve in the House, 30 for the Senate and 35 for president), so an age maximum shouldn’t be dismissed. A constitutional amendment along these lines might actually garner bipartisan support, at least once Trump is off the political stage.

So how did we get here, and who is to blame for our geriatric choices? Primary voters and the people who declined to participate in primaries. Voters in both parties — many of whom probably grouse about their choices now — had opportunities to cut off both Trump and Biden before they got this far. But enough voters either chose to look beyond their age or didn’t care enough about their age to participate in the primaries.

Nathan L. Gonzales is a senior political analyst for the Public Affairs Council and editor of Inside Elections, a nonpartisan newsletter with a subscription package designed to boost PACs with a regular newsletter and exclusive conference call. You can also hear more on the Inside Elections Podcast. His email address is [email protected].