Maxwell Alejandro Frost began his short but dynamic political career as a community organizer. Now, the 25-year-old is projected to win the Democratic nomination in Florida’s deeply blue 10th Congressional District, edging out a slew of candidates hoping to fill the soon-to-be-empty seat of Rep. Val Demings as she runs for Senate against incumbent Marco Rubio in November.
If Frost is elected, he will be the first Generation Z member of Congress and, according to Politico, the only Afro-Cubano.
The progressive activist has primarily run on the zeal of his youth, as well as strong stances on climate change and gun control. HuffPost reports he garnered the support of such notable progressive leaders as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and Politico notes that he was endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel.
After his win Tuesday, Frost told NBC News, “I think this win shows the country, don’t count us out. Don’t count out young people.”
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A former March for Our Lives national organizing director and an American Civil Liberties Union activist, according to NPR’s KUAR 89.1, Frost has raised $1.5 million as of Aug. 3.
“Our generation has been through some of the modern challenges our country is going through, yet we don’t have representation in Congress, and we deserve to be at the table,” Frost told CNN in an interview prior to Tuesday’s election, adding that possibly being the first Gen Z representative was “the honor of a lifetime.”
As for his ongoing battle for gun control, Frost told NBC News, “Gun violence is what got me involved in this work 10 years ago; it was the Sandy Hook shooting. Three years after that, I’d become a survivor of gun violence myself here in Orlando, and three months before that, the Pulse nightclub shooting would happen,” he said, adding, “I look forward to being a strong advocate and champion to ensuring we live in a country where we don’t have to fear going to church or going to school because of gun violence. We deserve the freedom to live without the fear of that violence.”
According to the Associated Press, “52% of Americans -- including 65% of Republicans and 39% of Democrats” say they’re in favor of both having the right to own a gun for protection and creating laws to lessen the possibility of mass shootings.
The Pew Research Center defines Gen Z as anyone born between 1997 and 2012. In order to serve in the U.S. House, a candidate must be 25 years old.
In an interview with NPR, Frost said his age provides a unique perspective and has played a role in the way he looks at politics.
"Our generation has been born into a lot of trauma and a lot of civil unrest around people being frustrated with things. And I think because of that, our generation naturally thinks about things in a bit of a different way," Frost said.
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