Last Updated on September 14, 2022
On Tuesday, 25-year-old Karoline Leavitt won the Republican nomination in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. Despite a funding disadvantage, Leavitt prevailed over former Trump State Department official Matt Mowers, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) as the GOP nominee in 2020. With her primary victory, Karoline Leavitt became the first Republican Gen-Z congressional candidate.
“We were outspent, but we were NOT outworked,” Leavitt tweeted after her primary win. “Thank you to the people of my home district for believing in me! I am humbled by the outpouring of support. … Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, the work continues.”
The 25-year-old will now face off against incumbent Rep. Pappas in a race categorized as a toss-up. Mowers ran against Pappas in 2020, though he ultimately lost by roughly five percentage points.
Leavitt previously worked as a presidential writer under President Trump in 2018 and later served as an assistant press secretary in the White House press office. “I helped prepare Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany for high-pressure briefings, fought against the biased mainstream media, and proudly helped message President Trump’s America First agenda that uplifted the forgotten men and women and small business families like my own,” reads her campaign website.
Her campaign received significant backing from a wide range of conservatives, including an endorsement from former President Trump, who congratulated her on the victory in a Truth Social post. “Against all odds, she did it — and will have an even greater victory on November 8th. Wonderful energy and wisdom,” Trump wrote.
In addition to Trump’s backing, Leavitt received endorsements from Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), among several other conservative leaders. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy backed Matt Mowers in the race, however.
Karoline Leavitt will be one of two Gen-Z candidates running for Congress this fall. In August, Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost won the Democrat nomination in Florida’s 10th Congressional District. The 25-year-old is set to run against Republican Calvin Wimbish in November in the heavily Democratic district.