"Up until very recently the government has been made up of older generations, now that Gen Z is stepping into office, what can we expect?"--Maya Mastropasqua, 8th grade
On January 3rd, 2023 Maxwell Frost assumed office as congressman for Florida’s 10th congressional district. Elected at 25 years old, he is the youngest, and first Gen Z, member of Congress . Some driving points for his campaign were Medicare for all, ending gun violence, and “reimagining justice," according to his campaign website, Frost for Congress.
Ninth grader at OSA, Holly Young is generally in support of the new representative. “As long as he's progressive and willing to fight for what is right and good for the general public, I'm really excited to have his voice in Congress,” she said. Fellow OSA student, eleventh grader, Eghosa Otokiti is also excited for what Frost will bring to Congress: “Too long has Congress just been old white men so it's good to see young people of color gain more representation.”
Frost believes that “care must not be a consumer good” and that the current American healthcare system doesn’t support the betterment of America. His ideas to end this “illness industry” include permitting federal drug price negotiation to stop pharmaceutical companies from price gouging, invest in communities that have been left behind by the healthcare system, and institute non-punitive, publicly funded treatment for those with substance abuse disorders.
Gun violence was another front runner of Frost’s campaign. He claims to start working to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, fight to dismantle the NRA (National Rifle Association), and develop a task force to end gun violence of which 25% is made up of youth BIPOC representatives, as well as other things.
Frost’s beliefs seem to be a pretty perfect representation of the typical “Gen Z political agenda.” Gen Z is the generation born from the late 90s to early 2000s. Studies have shown that this generation is more likely to have progressive or left-leaning ideologies than those before it.
Gen Z believes in a myriad of things. Lucy Warnke, eighth grader at OSA says, “Some of the main causes I believe in are rights to your own body, equality, helping the climate, stopping gun violence.” Lots of OSA students believe in action to stop the climate crisis “because if we're not going to do that, nobody will and we're all going to die in 30 years,” according to seventh grade Lit Arts student, Alex Stullman. Ninth grader Holly Young also believes that “defunding the police and military, and funneling more funding to reservations,” should be something for the government to focus on.
A survey conducted by FiveThirtyEight revealed that voters ages 18 to 29 are more likely than any other group — even those only a decade or two older — to say that “abortion should always be legal.” This can also be seen among OSA students. Warnke listed one of her main beliefs as “rights to your own body” and Young also believes in “abortion rights.”
The article also found the same responders are also twice as likely to say “that racism and racial inequality are big problems in the U.S., and that they favor dramatic moves to undo injustices of the past, like cash payments to descendants of enslaved people.” Gen Z was the only group with the majority (57%) in favor of cash payments to relatives of enslaved people.
The FiveThirtyEight respondents overall were also much more likely to support the Black Lives Matter movement, with 63 percent saying they did. While this was more than their older counterparts, it seems that within groups of people even just five years younger, there was a pretty stark difference. Business Insider teamed up with Yubo to survey roughly 39,000 Gen Zers aged 13 to 25. Business Insider reports that nearly 90% said they support Black Lives Matter, with 77% of the respondents having attended protests for the BLM movement.
These beliefs often don’t seem to align with the government's actions. Otokiti sees this as practically impossible. “I feel like government should be getting rid of student debt, setting up more New Deal-like policies, working towards divesting and eventually abolishing the police,” they say, “Unfortunately the democrats wouldn't do that even if they had the presidency and a super majority in the House, Senate, and Supreme Court. So no way on this planet will Republicans do even 1% of that.” Tenth grader at OSA, Faith Li has a similar view: “I honestly don’t believe the government could do anything. What they do either benefits a certain group of people and harms another group.”
Even Gen Z Republicans seem to have more “progressive” ideas than older Republicans. A Pew Research study reports that 52% of Gen Z Republicans believe the government should do more to help with the problems in the U.S. compared with 38% of millennials, and 29% of Gen Xers. The study asked respondents whether or not forms should include more gender options than “man” and “woman.” About 59% of Republican Gen Zers say forms or online profiles should include additional gender options, compared with half of millennials, about four-in-ten Gen Xers and baby boomers. Just looking at Gen Z Republicans, 41% think forms should include additional gender options, compared with 27% of Republican millennials, 17% of Gen Xers and baby boomers.
A more in-depth look at Gen Z Republican views would be through the first Republican Gen Z candidate, Karoline Leavitt. Leavitt was the 24-year-old candidate in this last election. Ultimately, she lost against Chris Pappas.
Leavitt’s political spark came from what she felt was the unfair treatment of then-candidate Donald Trump by the media in 2016, according to The Washington Post. Four years later, during his second campaign, Leavitt worked for the Trump administration’s press shop. After Biden’s win, she claimed that Biden was illegitimately elected as president (although in a more recent interview she went back on this claim, saying he was the legitimate president).
Leavitt’s campaign promised to prioritize fracking and oil drilling. She said working-class families will have to choose “between heating and eating this winter” because Democrats have yet to prioritize it. She wanted to minimize the money given to Ukraine saying, “Mr. Pappas supports dealing more of your tax dollars to send to the country of Ukraine when we are facing 8.2 percent inflation.”
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, New Hampshire’s law bans abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy. AP News reports that pro-life candidate Leavitt has said she supports state legislatures making decisions on abortion regulations and would oppose a federal abortion ban. “[Abortion] is not about women’s reproductive rights, it is not about women’s health. It is about life and protecting that period,” DCCC quotes her saying, “And as a woman, it is the most amazing thing that we can do to reproduce. That’s why we’re here. That’s why, you know, God made men and women.”
Many people in this generation have spoken up about what they want for our country and as of recently, have run for office to make those wants a reality. Otokiti, for one, said they want to live in “a version [of the US] where we don't have to fight corporate greed, that human rights were not up to debate, where we were progressing forward. A government focused on solving climate change and not at bombing the Middle East.”
Ninth grader at OSA, Holly Young is generally in support of the new representative. “As long as he's progressive and willing to fight for what is right and good for the general public, I'm really excited to have his voice in Congress,” she said. Fellow OSA student, eleventh grader, Eghosa Otokiti is also excited for what Frost will bring to Congress: “Too long has Congress just been old white men so it's good to see young people of color gain more representation.”
Frost believes that “care must not be a consumer good” and that the current American healthcare system doesn’t support the betterment of America. His ideas to end this “illness industry” include permitting federal drug price negotiation to stop pharmaceutical companies from price gouging, invest in communities that have been left behind by the healthcare system, and institute non-punitive, publicly funded treatment for those with substance abuse disorders.
Gun violence was another front runner of Frost’s campaign. He claims to start working to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, fight to dismantle the NRA (National Rifle Association), and develop a task force to end gun violence of which 25% is made up of youth BIPOC representatives, as well as other things.
Frost’s beliefs seem to be a pretty perfect representation of the typical “Gen Z political agenda.” Gen Z is the generation born from the late 90s to early 2000s. Studies have shown that this generation is more likely to have progressive or left-leaning ideologies than those before it.
Gen Z believes in a myriad of things. Lucy Warnke, eighth grader at OSA says, “Some of the main causes I believe in are rights to your own body, equality, helping the climate, stopping gun violence.” Lots of OSA students believe in action to stop the climate crisis “because if we're not going to do that, nobody will and we're all going to die in 30 years,” according to seventh grade Lit Arts student, Alex Stullman. Ninth grader Holly Young also believes that “defunding the police and military, and funneling more funding to reservations,” should be something for the government to focus on.
A survey conducted by FiveThirtyEight revealed that voters ages 18 to 29 are more likely than any other group — even those only a decade or two older — to say that “abortion should always be legal.” This can also be seen among OSA students. Warnke listed one of her main beliefs as “rights to your own body” and Young also believes in “abortion rights.”
The article also found the same responders are also twice as likely to say “that racism and racial inequality are big problems in the U.S., and that they favor dramatic moves to undo injustices of the past, like cash payments to descendants of enslaved people.” Gen Z was the only group with the majority (57%) in favor of cash payments to relatives of enslaved people.
The FiveThirtyEight respondents overall were also much more likely to support the Black Lives Matter movement, with 63 percent saying they did. While this was more than their older counterparts, it seems that within groups of people even just five years younger, there was a pretty stark difference. Business Insider teamed up with Yubo to survey roughly 39,000 Gen Zers aged 13 to 25. Business Insider reports that nearly 90% said they support Black Lives Matter, with 77% of the respondents having attended protests for the BLM movement.
These beliefs often don’t seem to align with the government's actions. Otokiti sees this as practically impossible. “I feel like government should be getting rid of student debt, setting up more New Deal-like policies, working towards divesting and eventually abolishing the police,” they say, “Unfortunately the democrats wouldn't do that even if they had the presidency and a super majority in the House, Senate, and Supreme Court. So no way on this planet will Republicans do even 1% of that.” Tenth grader at OSA, Faith Li has a similar view: “I honestly don’t believe the government could do anything. What they do either benefits a certain group of people and harms another group.”
Even Gen Z Republicans seem to have more “progressive” ideas than older Republicans. A Pew Research study reports that 52% of Gen Z Republicans believe the government should do more to help with the problems in the U.S. compared with 38% of millennials, and 29% of Gen Xers. The study asked respondents whether or not forms should include more gender options than “man” and “woman.” About 59% of Republican Gen Zers say forms or online profiles should include additional gender options, compared with half of millennials, about four-in-ten Gen Xers and baby boomers. Just looking at Gen Z Republicans, 41% think forms should include additional gender options, compared with 27% of Republican millennials, 17% of Gen Xers and baby boomers.
A more in-depth look at Gen Z Republican views would be through the first Republican Gen Z candidate, Karoline Leavitt. Leavitt was the 24-year-old candidate in this last election. Ultimately, she lost against Chris Pappas.
Leavitt’s political spark came from what she felt was the unfair treatment of then-candidate Donald Trump by the media in 2016, according to The Washington Post. Four years later, during his second campaign, Leavitt worked for the Trump administration’s press shop. After Biden’s win, she claimed that Biden was illegitimately elected as president (although in a more recent interview she went back on this claim, saying he was the legitimate president).
Leavitt’s campaign promised to prioritize fracking and oil drilling. She said working-class families will have to choose “between heating and eating this winter” because Democrats have yet to prioritize it. She wanted to minimize the money given to Ukraine saying, “Mr. Pappas supports dealing more of your tax dollars to send to the country of Ukraine when we are facing 8.2 percent inflation.”
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, New Hampshire’s law bans abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy. AP News reports that pro-life candidate Leavitt has said she supports state legislatures making decisions on abortion regulations and would oppose a federal abortion ban. “[Abortion] is not about women’s reproductive rights, it is not about women’s health. It is about life and protecting that period,” DCCC quotes her saying, “And as a woman, it is the most amazing thing that we can do to reproduce. That’s why we’re here. That’s why, you know, God made men and women.”
Many people in this generation have spoken up about what they want for our country and as of recently, have run for office to make those wants a reality. Otokiti, for one, said they want to live in “a version [of the US] where we don't have to fight corporate greed, that human rights were not up to debate, where we were progressing forward. A government focused on solving climate change and not at bombing the Middle East.”
