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Photo by Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel

THE 25-YEAR-OLD POISED TO BE THE FIRST GEN Z MEMBER OF CONGRESS
By Ian Couzens, @iancouzenz ([link removed])
Associate Producer, Politics

Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

Editor’s Note: Two weeks ago, we took a look at rising Republican star, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. This week, we profile a rising Democratic star, who happens to also be from the Sunshine State.

Maxwell Alejandro Frost wants to be the first member of his generation to be elected to Congress.

At the age of 25, the progressive activist seized the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 10th Congressional District. ([link removed]) This makes him a strong bet come November, given the historically blue nature of the area. The district voted for President Joe Biden by 32 points ([link removed]) in 2020.

Born and raised right outside Orlando, Frost says he is ready for the hard part — governing.

Correspondent Lisa Desjardins spoke with Frost shortly after his primary win about his start in politics at age 15, what Gen Z wants, and his thoughts on compromise.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You are 25. You are now favored to be in Congress in just a few months. What is your world like right now?

Pretty hectic. But I just feel incredibly blessed, humbled and lucky. I keep thinking back to the victory party we had. It was a watch party turned into a victory party ([link removed]) where we had tons of our volunteers, organizers, fellows, supporters, donors just all come together. And just seeing that diverse room of both young, older folks all across the district, it just really filled my heart up. Because that's what this campaign was about, right?

Photo courtesy of Frost for Congress

And so, now comes the hard part of governing. But I'm really looking forward to it and know that I'm going to do a great job.

One thing that stood out to us: You said, "I'm not a politician, I'm an organizer ([link removed]) ." And you also said, “Love is not passive, it’s aggressive." I'm curious, what do you mean?

Well, organizing is the work I've been doing for the last decade. I got involved in politics at 15 years old in a real way because of the Sandy Hook shooting. And since then, I had been organizing on many different sides. And at the end of the day, organizing is about bringing people together around common shared values and working towards a goal. And that is what our leaders should do as well, especially our elected leaders. You know [that’s] something that we really need [to] expect from folks, especially in this time where we are bearing the brunt of this far-right political movement that is scapegoating the most vulnerable communities for their failures. I intend to be a vocal person and incredibly involved in building the bench, making it easier for people to run for office and using what I learned to help others.

I want to talk about, of course, the big headline – being the first potential member of Generation Z in Congress. What do you think Generation Z brings to politics, and what does this generation want?

Oftentimes I'm asked, “Does Gen Z care about different things?” And I actually don't think that. I think Gen Z cares about the same things that all the other generations have always cared about: being able to live their life free of violence and with the resources they need, the opportunities we want in a clean environment. But the difference is we see these same issues through a different lens because of our upbringing and the times that we were born in.

I remember being in elementary school, my dad watching the news, me sitting on the carpet, watching with him and seeing a bunch of people sleeping outside of Wall Street, like on the floor and talking about wealth inequality and learning about that in elementary school. Then, growing up and going through more school shooting drills than fire drills, and then finding out that 20 [or] 30 minutes away from me, brother Trayvon Martin was murdered for walking while being Black, and seeing the Dream Defender movement come up through Florida, Black and brown youth. And then, Columbine, Parkland, [and] Pulse right here in Orlando. We've seen these things not as adults, but in our upbringing. And I think it's created this kind of righteous anger that, “Wow, why haven't these problems been solved? Why aren't we taking them seriously when it comes to climate change and gun violence?” And it's not that, “Oh, we need Gen Z to completely take over right now.” We just want to be at the table. I think it's
important to have people from all across the spectrum of generations to come together in Congress because Congress is supposed to look like the country. And right now it doesn't.

I've heard you criticize the idea of compromise, perhaps, at least starting from a point of compromise. But there are many people in this country who think what Democrats are pushing for is too much government. How do you deal with those concepts of Democrats who, maybe realistically, might have to compromise?

I have no problem with compromise. I worked at the ACLU, a nonpartisan organization, where I dealt with both people on the right and people on the left to fight for civil rights and civil liberties. At March for Our Lives, we spent a lot of time speaking with people who had the opposing view to figure out how we can move forward. And we found common ground. And so when I talk about compromise, compromise is needed, right? We're talking about a government with many different ideologies, many different thoughts. But my comment about compromise ([link removed]) was that we can't start the debate at the compromise, which is what we've seen our party do a lot of the time. And when we look at the opposing party, they are effective at just steamrolling their agenda. I mean, if you look at what's going on here in Florida, the governor essentially chose his own congressional maps. The governor
passed the “Don't Say Gay, Don't Say LGBTQ+” law, the Stop Work Act. These folks are not coming to the table out of compromise at all. So for me, it's just about coming and sticking with our values as much as we can.

Congress is changing. However, you're obviously much younger than most members of the House. You have not attended college. You're a person of color. And I wonder if you've ever had anyone look down on you because of your age or how you look. How do you think you would handle that if that was coming from another member of Congress?

I'll tell you, I've gotten nothing but love from at least my party so far. From all around the spectrum, from moderate to progressive, older to younger. So I feel like I'm going into Congress with already mentors and friends that I can look to. But, you know, I'm used to being the youngest person in the room.

This has been the hardest year of my life. I mean, I quit my job to run for office. This has been difficult on my personal life. I really haven't had a personal life. I've had to, you know, Uber at night to pay my bills while I still campaign 10 to 12 hours a day, sometimes 14 hours a day. We're going to get the work done. And hopefully I can change some hearts and minds and show folks don't count out young people, do not count out Black and brown folks. We are here to not just get tours of D.C. and not just be on advisory councils, but actually be at the table.

The PBS NewsHour’s Lizz Bolaji contributed to this report.

#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Ali Schmitz, @SchmitzMedia ([link removed])
Politics Producer

Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

Voters in Massachusetts go to the polls ([link removed]) today – and this got us thinking about some of the state’s history.

In 1780, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts officially ratified a state constitution ([link removed]) . It also served as a model for the U.S. Constitution, seven years later.

Our question: Which founding father played a principal role in drafting the Massachusetts Constitution?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: On Aug. 30, 1967, a new justice was confirmed by the Senate to the Supreme Court. Who was this justice, and how long did they serve on the bench?

The answer: Thurgood Marshall. And he was confirmed as the nation’s first Black Supreme Court justice. Marshall served for 24 years.

Congratulations to our winners: Tom Holston and R. Garrett Mitchell!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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