Who Is Maxwell Alejandro Frost? Born To Cuban Refugee Mother, A Part-Time Uber Driver Is First Gen Z Congress Member

Maxwell Frost, 25, a part-time Uber driver and a community organizer, won his Florida race for Congress on Tuesday. He is the first member of Generation Z to reach the House of Representatives. Frost won over Republican Calvin Wimbish, 72, a retired Army Green Beret, to take the Orlando-based 10th Congressional District seat now occupied by Democratic Representative Val Demings.

Frost said to his cheering supporters in Orlando Tuesday, “Central Florida my name is Maxwell Alejandro Frost and I’m going to be the first Generation Z member of the United States Congress!"

He is the son of a Cuban migrant who came to America with her mother during the Freedom Flights in the early 1960s when Cubans ran away from the communist regime for Miami.

According to a report by NBC News, Frost will stand out among his soon-to-be peers in the halls of Congress where 58 is the average age among House members. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82, while GOP leader Kevin McCarthy will turn 58 three weeks after the 118th Congress gavels into session. Gen Z refers to those born in the late 1990s to the early 2010s.

Frost was highly favored to win the Orlando-based seat, which is solidly Democratic. He defeated Wimbish by 19 percentage points. Frost will succeed outgoing Demings, who contested incumbent Marco Rubio in the Senate. Rubio won his reelection.

"History was made tonight," the first Gen Z member of the congress tweeted. "We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future," NPR reported.

The Frost's success marks a crucial moment for progressive activists who came of voting age over the last decade and chose their political voice in response to controversial issues including gun violence. His success which was driven by his advocacy for stronger gun possession laws and support for progressive approaches like medicare-for-all, supports the representation of a younger set of voices, which tend to be more liberal, in Congress. He will be the very first Afro-Cuban representative in the U.S. Congress, where more than 75% of members are White.

Vox reported that Frost is one of the candidates who made history this week, along with Massachusetts gubernatorial winner Maura Healey and Arkansas gubernatorial winner Sarah Huckabee Sanders, both of whom were the first women elected to these roles.