Maxwell Frost speaks during the March For Our Lives Florida protest and aid event at Tinker Field in Orlando on March 26, 2021.
Orlando Sentinel / TNS
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Orlando Sentinel / TNS
Maxwell Frost speaks during the March For Our Lives Florida protest and aid event at Tinker Field in Orlando on March 26, 2021.
Orlando Sentinel / TNS
Radical activist Maxwell Frost, one of the first members of Generation Z to run for Congress, won the Democratic primary, according to an Associated Press race.
Frost’s victory almost guaranteed a path to Congress as the Orlando-based seat is seen as a solid Democratic precinct. Frost will face Republican Calvin Wimbish in November.
“Today’s election is proof that Central Florida working families who want representation have the courage to ask for more,” Frost said in a statement. “I share this victory with the nurses, forklift drivers, teachers, carers, social workers, farmers, unions, treasurers and other members of the vibrant community who have support this campaign.”
At the age of 25, Frost had just met the age requirement to serve in the United States House of Representatives. The 2022 midterms mark the first election in which members of Generation Z can run for congressional office. The Pew Research Center consider anyone born between 1997 and 2012 as Gen Z.
Frost has campaigned on key progressive issues, including Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, student debt relief and ending gun violence. He first became involved in political organizing in 2012 while in high school following the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. He also speak publicly about surviving a gun violence incident.
Frost tell NPR.
The former national March for Our Lives director and ACLU activist beat nine other competitors, including State Senator Randolph Bracy and former Florida Representatives Corrine Brown and Alan Grayson.
Frost also tops its competitors in Fundraising while gaining significant national support from progressive leaders, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
In one Interview with NPRFrost admits that age plays a symbolic role in his campaign.
“Yes, we marched, yes we joined in supporting each other, yes we joined on social media and now we are running for office because we believe we are prepared to be a voice for our community and we can do it and young people should be allowed,” he said.
