Americans Overwhelmingly Support Maximum Age Limits For Elected Officials

More than three-quarters of Americans believe there should be a maximum age limit for elected officials, a position backed by voters of all ages and across the political spectrum, according to a poll released Sunday.

Seventy-seven percent of all Americans hold this view, including 76% of Democrats surveyed and 79% of Republicans, the CBS News/YouGov poll found. The poll comes as 80-year-old President Joe Biden faces withering approval numbers ahead of his reelection bid, 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struggles with public health problems and Republicans seem poised to renominate former President Donald Trump, 77.

Responses were nearly identical across all ages in the survey, which found that voters under 45 (77%), voters between 45 and 65 (77%) and even voters over age 65 (78%) all back the maximum age proposal in equal measure. Age 70 was pegged most frequently as the appropriate limit, with 45% of respondents backing that option.

Twenty-two percent said 60 years should be the maximum age limit, while 18% chose age 80 and 8% said no one over 50 should hold public office.

A third of sitting U.S. senators, including 90-year-old Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, are currently over age 70, according to CBS News.

McConnell recently suffered a freeze-up during a press conference in his home state in Kentucky, during which he fell silent when asked whether he would run for reelection in 2026. The incident, the second in as many months, led to widespread speculation as to whether McConnell can continue to serve as minority leader or finish his term in office.

Meanwhile, a recent Wall Street Journal poll found 73% of voters think Biden is too old to run for reelection. Forty-seven percent believed the same of Trump.

The CBS News/YouGov poll surveyed 2,335 U.S. adults between Sept. 5 and 8, with a margin of error of 2.7 points.