Maxwell Alejandro Frost Secures Generation Z’s First House Seat - The New York Times

Politics|25-Year-Old Florida Democrat Secures Generation Z’s First House Seat

• Published Nov. 8, 2022Updated Nov. 9, 2022, 12:16 a.m. ET

Generation Z officially has a spot successful Congress.

Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a 25-year-old Democrat, won his predetermination connected Tuesday successful Florida’s 10th Congressional District implicit Calvin Wimbish, a Republican, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Frost volition correspond the Orlando-area spot being vacated by Representative Val Demings, the Democratic nominee for senator.

His triumph guarantees that the adjacent Congress volition see astatine slightest 1 subordinate of Generation Z, whose oldest members were calved successful 1997 and are recently eligible for the House, which has a minimum property of 25. He could beryllium joined by Karoline Leavitt, a Republican moving successful New Hampshire’s First Congressional District.

“The position I bring arsenic a young person, arsenic a young Black person, arsenic a young Black Latino idiosyncratic from the South, is important,” Mr. Frost said successful an interrogation with The New York Times precocious Tuesday night. But helium added that helium saw himself arsenic “a tiny portion of a truly large puzzle” composed of members of Gen Z who are becoming much influential successful galore areas of society.

Mr. Frost said his archetypal precedence was to get his territory offices and unit up and moving to assistance constituents who are inactive reeling from Hurricane Ian — to “show them that authorities tin enactment for them,” helium said.

In summation to policies similar expanding the minimum wage and codifying Roe v. Wade that are supported fundamentally universally among elected Democrats, Mr. Frost backs galore of the proposals of the party’s near wing, including cosmopolitan wellness attraction and expanding the Supreme Court. Democrats are highly unlikely, though, to person the benignant of bulk successful the adjacent Congress that would beryllium required to enact those policies, if they clasp a bulk astatine all.

Mr. Frost’s inheritance is successful activism, including enactment with the student-led anti-gun-violence question March for Our Lives, and his run focused connected issues similar weapon unit and clime alteration that are of peculiar salience to galore young voters. In an interrogation with The Times successful August, helium argued that helium brought a antithetic position to authorities due to the fact that of the epoch helium had travel of property in: 1 of wide shootings, progressively predominant earthy disasters and wide societal upheaval.

“I travel from a procreation that has gone done much mass-shooting drills than occurrence drills,” helium said then. “This is thing that my procreation has had to look head-on: being frightened to spell to school, being frightened to spell to church, being frightened to beryllium successful your community. That gives maine a consciousness of urgency.”

It is uncommon for 25-year-olds to beryllium elected to Congress; earlier Representative Madison Cawthorn, Republican of North Carolina, won successful 2020, it hadn’t happened in much than 45 years. Mr. Frost turned 25, the minimum property to service successful the House, earlier this year.

On Tuesday, his interrogation with The Times was concisely interrupted by a congratulatory telephone telephone from President Biden. The president asked whether Mr. Frost had a day coming up earlier his swearing-in, arsenic Mr. Biden did betwixt his ain predetermination to the Senate astatine property 29 and his inauguration astatine property 30, the minimum property for senators.