It’s still up in the air which party will control Congress, but one thing is certain: There will be some interesting new elected officials coming to Washington. Take Maxwell Frost, who became the youngest member of Congress—and the first person from Generation Z to be elected—on Tuesday. The 25-year-old, who will represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District, had beaten out more experienced Democrats in the primary, including state senator Randolph Bracy and former U.S. Representatives Corrine Brown and Alan Grayson, then went on to win in the majority-blue Orlando-area district. A progressive advocate for gun reform and climate change, Frost has some big ambitions. Here are five things to know about him:
He’s not a newcomer to politics.
Frost may be young, but his resume doesn’t match his age. He got his start in politics when he was just 15, mostly advocating for gun reform and later working for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. He was most recently the national organizing director for March for Our Lives, an advocacy group formed by survivors of the Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School shooting.
I started Organizing at 15 because I didn’t want to get shot at school. https://t.co/skaG2PGN6Z
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) November 5, 2022
He’s easy to relate to.
Like most Americans (and unlike many members of Congress), he doesn’t come from a privileged background. He was adopted as an infant from a mother who was caught in “a cycle of drugs, crime, and violence,” grew up in an immigrant household, and drives an Uber for extra cash. Frost may be less than half the average age of his new co-workers, but he also helps represent the more than half of Americans who are millennials or younger.
He got dissed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Frost got a taste of the Democrat-Republican divide when he went viral four months ago for confronting Ron DeSantis at an event in Orlando, asking the Florida governor to take action against gun violence. Frost did not get a positive response. DeSantis told him, “Nobody wants to hear from you,” and had him escorted out by security.
I just asked @GovRonDeSantis to take action on gun violence so we can save lives. That we lose 100 people a day.
His response? “Nobody wants to hear from you!” We are dying and our Governor is too busy helping @RubinReport make money. pic.twitter.com/LUOWQq3kQU
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) June 3, 2022
He’s a musician, too.
Frost grew up in a musical household. His adoptive father is a musician and influenced him to start playing the drums at young age. In fact, Maxwell performed at former President Barack Obama’s second inauguration parade with his high school salsa band, Seguro Que Sí, after volunteering for his campaign.
He almost didn’t run for Congress.
While Frost was encouraged by his fellow organizers and people in his community to run for office, he told Yahoo News that he was a bit skeptical at first. It actually wasn’t until he met his biological mother and learned about the struggles she has gone through that he made the decision to run.
Before becoming Research Editor, Damare Baker was an Editorial Fellow and Assistant Editor for Washingtonian. She has previously written for Voice of America and The Hill. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she studied international relations, Korean, and journalism.
