First Gen Z congressman-elect says he was denied DC apartment, noting ‘really bad’ credit

The congressman-elect who will become the first member of Generation Z to join Congress next month said on Thursday that he was denied an apartment in Washington, D.C., because of his “really bad” credit. 

Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a community organizer who is set to take the seat of Rep. Val Demings (D) representing Florida’s 10th Congressional District, tweeted that he told his potential landlord that his credit was poor as he applied to the apartment, and was told it would be fine. 

But Frost said his application was denied and he lost the apartment and the application fee. He said his credit is so poor because he “ran up a lot of debt running for Congress for a year and a half.”

He said he did not make enough money working for Uber to pay for the cost of living. 

Frost surprised party leaders with his victory in a crowded primary filled with senior political figures before comfortably winning against his Republican opponent in a solidly blue district. 

He campaigned on a variety of progressive policies, including ending mass incarceration, demilitarizing the police and abolishing the death penalty. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who also ran as a young progressive candidate, said after her election in 2018 that she could not afford to rent an apartment in Washington. She reportedly shared a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx with her partner at the time.