Axios Interview: Gen Z’s Maxwell Frost

Fresh from winning the crowded Democratic primary for Florida’s 10th Congressional District, Maxwell Frost, 25 — who is poised to become the first Gen Z member of Congress — is already talking about his plans to raise a new generation of candidates to national, state and local office.

Why it matters: Taken together, Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Gen. Z’s (born 1997-2012) make up roughly a third of the electorate in 2020. But their representation in Congress has yet to catch up.

• Millennials make up just 7% of the 117th Congress.
• 2022 is the first election cycle in which candidates from Gen. Z are old enough to meet the eligibility requirement of 25 years to run for the House.

What are they saying: “I am the first; I definitely won’t be the last,” Frost told Axios in a phone interview days after his comfortable victory in a field of 10 candidates.

• “I’m going to be very involved in the political side of things and making sure that we have … not just young people, but just a whole new generation of people saying, ‘Hey, you know what? I can run for office,” Frost said. “Not just Congress either.” Like a school board — you know? District Commission. Everything of that kind.

The political novice didn’t graduate from college but organized the ACLU and the March for Our Lives. He drove for Uber during the campaign.

• Backed by high-profile progressives including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Frost defeated seasoned challengers including state Sen. Randolph Bracey and former U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson and Corinne Brown. Incumbent Congressman Val Demings is running for the Senate.
• Despite outscoring his closest challenger by more than 2-to-1, with $1.5 million as of August, Frost told Axios that his victory was anything but a sure bet. “I know what it’s like to run for office with no money in the bank and no support to begin with,” he said.
• Frost, who is Afro-Cuban, will face Calvin Wimbish, 72, a black Republican conservative activist and retired Army Green Beret, in November. The district is solidly Democratic, making Frost the heavy favorite.

The intrigue: Frost believes his generation has a higher shock threshold when it comes to politicians’ private lives or exposure on social media.

Consider recent stories that have dogged younger politicians like Congresswoman Madison Cawthorne (RN.C.) or Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

• Frost said it had “a sense of truth.” The Case of Cawthorne that many of his colleagues would not be in office if they had grown up in the digital age, although he called Cawthorne’s policy positions “disqualified.”
• The controversy surrounding the leaked videos, which show Cawthorn in sexually explicit situations, “isn’t what bothered me about it.”
• At his own primary victory party, Frost recalled, “I was dancing on stage and some of the news was like, ‘Oh, look, he’s dancing, that’s interesting!'” And in my head, I’m thinking, really, no I see this.”

Bottom line: Frost doesn’t necessarily see himself as a disruptor in the “Squad” mold, but he positions himself with young progressives who want a more assertive Democratic Party.

• “We should no longer sit at the compromise table,” he said. “There will be moments of compromise … what I’m saying is, let’s not lose sight of the North Star.”