Maxwell Alejandro Frost I just got a job that pays $174,000 a year. But America’s first Gen Z congressman still can’t find an apartment in Washington.
A Democrat in Orlando tweeted that the US capital has no place to live.
“I just applied for an apartment in DC and I told him my credit was really bad,” Frost posted. “He said I was fine. I got rejected and lost my apartment and my application fee. This is not for people who don’t have money yet.”
It’s no surprise that Frost’s credit card is maxed out. 25 year old winner shock victory This fall, he defeated a longtime Democratic leader in free seats, including an incumbent state senator and two former members of Congress, in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 10th congressional district.
He told Florida Politics that simply running for office would mean sacrificing his income. In his year before winning the election, he worked long hours seven days a week and campaigned for a rare vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives. So he had to quit his full-time job.But it also needed capital, so the young political activist was now famous drove an uber At night like a daytime campaign. That rideshare money was still not enough to pay all his bills, and he also had a lot of personal debt.
“As far as going into the office, the system that serves, especially in Washington, D.C., wasn’t really built for working-class people, poor people, or people with a troubled past.
After his story received considerable attention on Twitter, Frost tried to explain it online.
“It’s not magic that won a very difficult race,” Frost wrote. “For that primary, I quit my full-time job because I knew that to win at 25, I would have to be a full-time candidate. Seven days a week, 10-12 hours a day. It’s not sustainable or right, but it’s what we had to do.
“As a candidate, you cannot give yourself a scholarship or anything until the end of the campaign.
He’s not the first politician to have trouble with his rent after his commute. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez After winning a seat in parliament in 2018, famous for struggling Even in the Washington housing market.
Of course, there are other ways of dealing with the situation. Many members of Congress share housing together.This situation was satirized in the Amazon Prime series nearly a decade ago. alpha house.
Still, other members chose to sleep in the office either because of housing issues or as a public demonstration of financial responsibility. Cut Camacthe Gainesville Republican elected to the House of Representatives in 2020, recent roundtable she is doing the same now.
“It’s a little like college,” Kamak said. “We’re moving now and I’m sleeping in the office, so the dorm is completely overcrowded.”
I don’t know if that’s the best personal path for Frost.
“I got a lot of advice from both older and younger members,” he said. In my opinion MPs don’t have to sleep in their offices. This is hard work and you should be able to go home and sleep on your bed instead of your couch. You don’t want an intern to come to the office at 7am and find you still wearing your boxers. To be honest, I prefer sleeping on the couch to sleeping in the office. “
That’s what he’s done through many orientations. In particular, new members of Congress will not receive their first paycheck until one month after taking office on January 3rd.
In particular, Frost learned through Orientation Grapevine that most members living in the office were Republicans. That was true for a while, and after the Republican “Contract with America” revolution in 1994, the practice became fashionable.
When the new Democratic majority considered banning the practice in 2019, many bunk bed members protested, saying keeping mattresses in offices wasn’t just a political statement.
“I had an apartment for about the first nine months when I came here, and the rent was higher than the mortgage on my house. Rick Crawford Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Democratic Gazette “It doesn’t make much sense economically.”
And prices have only increased in the last few years.according to rent cafeIn Washington, the average rent is now $2,335 a month, and the average apartment size is just 746 square feet.
The fact that so many Republican lawmakers are bedridden for this purpose makes Frost question whether there is a bipartisan desire to tackle affordable housing. If you need public housing in your city, you might think you’ll need to make up for it in the major cities.
And of course, Mr. Frost’s housing problem isn’t limited to the Washington market. He represents the Central Florida area, which is at the center of the affordable housing crisis in his home state.Rent Cafe shows the average price of rent in orlando It costs about $1,937 and has an average size of 962 square feet.
Mr. Frost spends about two-thirds of the year in the Florida market and more than the other third in Washington, maintaining homes in both areas. But on a congressman’s salary, it’s doable, and he expects his credit to be in good standing a year from now.
The price, or worse, credit checks and application fees, could prove devastating for many of his voters. I lost my application fee, but I’ve heard stories of people losing over $150 in fees and applying again at the next place they looked.
As for members, he hopes the parliamentary modernization committee will consider changes to make public services more accessible.
“Some things you don’t need,” he said. “Billionaires can get places. not.”
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