Three House Democrats have died in office in 2025, yet Democratic leadership maintains that experience trumps age concerns. How does this affect how political parties manage mortality risk?

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Political parties, like many organizations, engage in "magical thinking" that avoids confronting mortality risks of aging leadership until forced by actual deaths. The institutional knowledge argument serves as rationalization for avoiding difficult succession conversations. Only when members actually die do parties face the costs of poor succession planning—vacant seats, disrupted committee work, and lost expertise that could have been transferred through managed transitions.

Three House Democrats have died in office in 2025, yet Democratic leadership maintains that experience trumps age concerns. How does this affect how political parties manage mortality risk?

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