Meet 5 midterm candidates running with student debt in mind—and in their lives

In the lead up to this year’s midterm elections on Nov. 6 we’ve heard about how young adults, women and people of color are running for office in record numbers.

But there’s another wave of candidates throwing their hats into the race this cycle — those with student debt. With the first generation of students who experienced our debt-financed higher education system coming of age politically, it’s no wonder student debt is making a bigger appearance in campaigns, said Mark Huelsman, the associate director of policy and research at Demos, a left-leaning think tank.

“There’s a reason why a lot of people started running for office and some of it is to actively change the economic situation for people like them,” he said. “Increasingly student debt is a piece of that.”