Who, beyond the well-known and much-profiled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Zohran Mamdani, and Jon Ossoff, are the young people most likely to rebuild the Democratic Party? The bright lights of the next generation don’t fit into easy classifications. They include a seminarian, a waitress, an oysterman, and a semiconductor heiress. There are Bernie-endorsed socialists and iconoclastic centrists. Some are eyeing a national stage, others are staying adamantly local. Some already have a decade of experience; others are fresh upstarts proving themselves. We spent months talking with professionals who recruit and support young candidates to identify the party’s next generation, and we called dozens of political operatives, consultants, and strategists—and granted them all anonymity so they could dish about the nominees candidly. The nominators didn’t all agree, and, of course, had their own perspectives and agendas, but through those conversations, we found the 25 most promising rising Democratic leaders who have yet to become household names. Armed with our list of politicians under 40, photographer Elinor Kry hit the road in a minivan to meet and photograph a dozen or so of the next generation of Democrats. Kry shot her portfolio over a month, hauling a tufted armchair onto boats, truck beds, football fields, construction sites, and suburban cul-de-sacs to capture these officials and candidates on their home turf. Not all of these hopefuls will win their elections this month or next year, but all are worth watching. Although they don’t run the country yet, the visions of these young politicians speak to the problems the party is grappling with: how to deliver on working-class issues, expand the party’s tent while holding onto its values, and stand up to the current administration: