Who is Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Gen Z's first US congressman

For most 25-year-olds responsibilities include: working out which housemate’s turn it is to buy the milk; not spending the entirety of this month’s wages on a night out, and choosing the best photos for your Hinge profile.

Not so for Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who has bigger fish to fry, now that he’s become Generation Z’s first-ever US congressman.

The Democrat was elected to the House of Representatives after securing victory in Orlando, Florida, in the US midterm elections on Tuesday.

“It’s time for poor, working-class, and young people to have a seat at the table,” he states on his campaign website. And Americans have now told him to pull up a pew.

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So who is this impressive guy with an icy cool name? Here, we consider what to expect from the political young gun.

Background

Frost’s grandmother and mother fled from Cuba to Florida in the early 1960s “with only a suitcase and no money,” he says on his site.

His grandmother was then “exploited” as a Miami factory worker, suffering gruelling 70-hour weeks, in a bid to make a life for her family. Meanwhile, his mum was “caught in a cycle of drugs, crime, and violence while pregnant” and, already struggling as a mother of seven, “made the difficult decision” to put him up for adoption.

Frost says that over the years, he’s experienced police abuse “firsthand” and seen how people of colour and other marginalised groups are left behind by society.

He stresses that his work has “never been about me, it’s been about us”.

So what’s he all about?

Frost has set out four admirably ambitious aims: to end gun violence; secure healthcare for all; transform the country’s “racist” criminal justice system, and end the climate crisis. Oh, but he also wants to fight for affordable housing, sustainable transport systems, and investing in pandemic preparedness.

And how is he qualified to do all this?

He’s not been spending his evenings scrolling through TikTok, that’s for sure.

The 25-year-old has already fought to protect access to abortions for millions of women; organised a movement that restored voting rights to 1.6 million Floridians with prior convictions; spearheaded marches against gun violence; led a voter turnout programme that helped drive record youth turnout, and helped to secure $5 billion in funding for violence prevention schemes. Did we mention that he’s 25??

So he’s the youngest person to ever be elected to Congress?

Not quite. He’s the first Gen-Z member of Congress. The oldest members of this demographic cohort were born in 1997, so have only just become eligible for the House, which has a minimum age of 25.

Another 25-year-old was running in the 2022 midterms – Republican Karoline Leavitt – but she lost the race in New Hampshire.

In 2020, North Carolina Republican Madison Cawthorn became the first 25-year-old to be elected to Congress since Jed Johnson Jr in 1964.

What has he said about his victory?

Come on, he's a Gen-Z-er. They don't speak, they type and post.

Here's what Frost tweeted in the wake of his big win:

He also revealed that he's going to celebrate in classic Gen-Z style: by going to a gig...

Matty Healy, make sure you give him a shout-out. He's earnt it.

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