Maxwell Frost’s Election Is A Conversation Of Change In Society

It’s official—Gen Z is in the House. 

This year was the first year anyone considered Gen Z was eligible to run. As a result, the United States of America now officially has its first Gen Z member of Congress in 25-year-old Maxwell Alejandro Frost. 

Frost won a Democratic seat in the House against Republican Calvin Wimbish, a 72-year-old army veteran and a conservative activist who denied the results of the 2020 election. Frost will represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District, which includes Orlando. 

While congratulations are definitely due, the reality of the situation in the House, and by extension Congress, is slowly coming to light. Congress is too old. 

The fact that over half of Americans now fit under the millennial or younger demographic, but the average age of a House member is 58 and the average age of a Senate member is 64, is actually quite concerning. 

The issues that younger generations feel strongly about are not reflected in current policies as they should be, and Congress now does not reflect America’s current demographics as one would expect it to be.

While the current Congress is likely the most diverse it’s ever been, many still find it a big surprise to see that members of Gen Z are making their way into our government. 

If you ask me, I would think this is only natural. I think that people that see it as this “big deal” still don’t realize how socially active and politically aware Gen Z actually is. In the past two years alone, there has been a surge of Gen Z activists that have emerged following the George Floyd Protests and the Black Lives Matter Movement, the seemingly endless amount of school shootings each year, the issues of climate change and global warming, and most recently the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

Frost was one of these activists, primarily advocating for stricter gun laws and gun control, prior to winning his seat in the House. In fact, the issues Frost’s campaign were centered on, ending gun violence, addressing climate change, and protecting abortion rights, are proof of what issues Gen Z views as critical. 

With the way the world looks like it’s heading, there’s hope yet to see a Congress that’s truly reflective of our society and that enacts positive change for the country. But in order for that to happen, the older generations in power need to be able to gracefully step down and support the new era of representatives. 

Because that is what a nation for the people, by the people, really needs.