Rep.-elect Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress, appears on the latest cover of Teen Vogue as he waits to be sworn in, a process delayed by the drawn-out election for Speaker of the House.
“This whole thing feels really surreal. It’s crazy to think that the same streets I was arrested on two years ago [during the George Floyd protests], I’m about to represent in Congress,” Frost, 25, told Teen Vogue of his election to the lower chamber.
The feature on Frost profiles his early interest in politics and activism, his upbringing as an Afro-Cuban adopted by a white and Cuban couple — and his campaign to beat out his 72-year-old Republican opponent in this year’s midterms.
Frost won the midterm race to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who left the House to run for Senate. He campaigned on his Gen Z identity, arguing that a younger perspective would add to the voices on Capitol Hill.
“We have a typical caricature of what a candidate for Congress looks like. … I think we need more regular, working-class people running for office, running with that experience, able to bring that to the table. We don’t have enough of it right now. So I’ve always been kind of challenging that idea, like, ‘What’s the experience you’re looking for?’” Frost told Teen Vogue.
Frost and other incoming lawmakers haven’t yet been sworn in to the new Congress, as House business is on hold until a Speaker is elected.
Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) has won the most votes in 10 consecutive rounds of voting for the top leadership slot, but hasn’t secured the majority needed to win in the Republican-controlled chamber.
Despite the GOP’s 222-seat majority in the chamber, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) has fallen short in each round so far as around 20 lawmakers in his party have cast ballots for alternative candidates, blocking him from getting the votes he needs.
“Still not sworn in because the Republicans are having a hard time picking their leader. This is a snapshot of how they’ll operate for the next two years,” Frost tweeted on the first day of votes Tuesday.