Politico Power List
Maxwell Frost: For bringing the flair and fury of his generation to Congress
On Dec. 8, Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Zer to be elected to Congress, picked up his phone and fired off a tweet. The post, which went immediately viral, was at once relatable to anyone who has come to Washington for a job and depressingly revealing of a larger problem. Frost had been denied an apartment because of his credit history.
“This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money,” he wrote.
Since his election, the 26-year-old activist from March for Our Lives, the Gen Z gun control group, has been unrepentant about telling this town what it took to get him here.
Maxing out his credit cards. Driving Uber to pay the bills. Couch surfing. “It's a sacrifice, to be honest,” the Orlando Democrat told POLITICO Magazine last year.
Perhaps this openness is the engine behind dozens of profiles, interviews and even the Annie Leibovitz treatment in a shoot for Vogue — each capturing a different side of the man behind the viral tweets and the progressive platform. And he knows how to have a good time while at it: His swearing-in bash was at The Anthem, a D.C. concert venue.
But he hasn’t let the fun detract from his work. Already, he’s settled on three policy priorities: pushing for gun restrictions (he’s a gun violence survivorhimself, having escaped a shooting at a Halloween event in his hometown), funding for arts education (he’s a drummer) and, of course, housing affordability.
“I got hundreds of letters and emails from people across the country telling me about their housing story,” he says. “Those really inspired me to say, ‘This needs to be one of my priorities.’ Especially because we have a huge housing issue in central Florida.”
Source: Politico