Maxwell Frost, who had been elected to represent Florida in the US House of Representatives, became the first Gen Z member-elect of Congress.
The 25-year-old Congressman had campaigned on reforming gun laws, expanding health care, increasing housing access and addressing climate change.
“Still thinking about that ‘please hold for the President’ call last night. Life is wild!” Frost said in a tweet on Wednesday.
still thinking about that “please hold for the President” call last night 😳😳
Life is wild! Thank you @POTUS
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) November 9, 2022
As a member of the generation comprising today’s teens and young adults, the African-American Frost, raised by an adoptive mother of Cuban descent, would stand out among the white faces and gray hair in the lower House, where the average age is a seasoned 58.
He will be the lone voice of “Generation Z-ers” among the 435-member legislative body whose current members average 58 years of age.
Frost, who was driving an Uber during the campaign to make ends meet, has aligned solidly with the Democratic party’s progressive wing, focusing on social justice and the fight against climate change. He has said he will use his position in Washington to seek solutions to gun violence in America.
President Joe Biden, who was first elected US senator five decades ago, forecast a lengthy political career for Frost.
“I have no doubt he’s off to an incredible start in what I’m sure will be a long, distinguished career,” Biden said at a conference.
“We need that representation in Congress so that way we have a government that looks like the country and knows what the country is going through,” Frost had told AFP in Orlando last month during his campaign trail.
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