First Gen Z candidate, Democrat Maxwell Frost wins Florida U.S. House seat
From 2021: Maxwell Frost discusses Nikolas Cruz's guilty plea
When it was announced that Nikolas Cruz will plead guilty to all 17 murder charges stemming from the Parkland mass shooting, it had Maxwell Alejandro Frost reminiscing about that terrible day. He drove from Orlando to South Florida to meet with students and loved ones, and helped sparked the March for Our Lives movement.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost has defeated Republican Calvin Wimbish for a Florida U.S. House seat, making him the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in Congress.
Frost, a 25-year-old gun reform and social justice activist, ran in a heavily blue Orlando-area district being relinquished by Democratic Rep. Val Demings, who challenged Republican Sen. Marco Rubio this year.
Frost is a former March For Our Lives organizer seeking stricter gun control laws and has stressed opposition to restrictions on abortion rights. Generation Z generally refers to those born between the late 1990s to early 2010s. To become a member of Congress, candidates must be at least 25 years old.
Wimbish is a 72-year-old former Army Green Beret who called himself a "Christian, conservative, constitutionalist" candidate for office.
Maxwell Frost, National Organizing Director for March For Our Lives, speaks during a March For Our Lives Florida drive-in rally and aid event at Tinker Field in Orlando on Friday, March 26, 2021. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Servi
Frost is among at least six newcomers to the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday’s vote from Florida as Republicans try to take advantage of an aggressively redrawn congressional map spearheaded by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In the wake of the 2020 census, DeSantis had ordered the GOP-controlled legislature to adopt a map devised to maximize Republican gains — vetoing the initial GOP-backed map which largely kept intact two seats held by Black Democratic members of Congress.
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Heading into this election year, Republicans held 16 seats and Democrats represented 11 from Florida in the House. Florida is gaining a 28th seat due to population growth.