Editor’s note: Count your Rising Stars

City & State’s 40 Under 40 is one of our flagship lists – an honor that’s earned a prominent place on political New Yorkers’ bio pages for nearly two decades. We also honor political players in their primes with the 50 Over 50 list. And one year, we gave into middle-aged pressure and did a 40 In Their 40s – thus ensuring that every single person on Earth was, technically, eligible for one of our age-based lists.

But that just makes it even harder to make the list. We, proudly, get a ton of nominations, and can only choose so many. The one year we tried an under 30 list, we dubbed it 10 In Their 20s. Hopefully that level of exclusivity allowed us to avoid the curse of the Forbes 30 Under 30 – which is best known for honoring cheats, scammers and fraudsters just before they’re found out.

But it’s still important to recognize Rising Stars in politics. After all, the 80-year-old Donald Trump is on track to break the record for being the oldest president in history on Aug. 15, 2028.

Meanwhile, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who turns 37 this week, is weighing a run for president herself. If, somehow, she’s elected, AOC would be the first president under 40 years old – breaking fellow New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt’s record as the youngest commander-in-chief ever, at just 42.

Roosevelt never made one of our lists – though it would’ve been a great read – but Zohran Mamdani did. The 29-year-old was a first-term Assembly member when he made the 40 Under 40. He’s turning 35 next week – and is still the second-youngest mayor in the city’s history.