From the Witkop for Congress Campaign
Meet the Gen Z Democrat from Florida’s Congressional District 21 who very well could become the nation’s youngest member of Congress in 2024. Thomas Witkop – age 25, the youngest age you can be to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives – officially filed Sunday, Feb. 11, to give the voters of Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach County a real alternative to Republican incumbent Brian Mast.
Thomas represents civil discourse, willingness to compromise to find solutions and the proven ability to work together with diverse others to accomplish those solutions. He understands that many in the Treasure Coast, and the nation, feel disillusioned with our current system and its ability to solve problems, but he knows we cannot give up on the oldest existing democracy in the world. He understands our democracy is a central component of the American Dream – a dream that he, like people all over the world, strongly believes in.
He knows that with duly elected representatives who truly believe in democratic government, the United States can once again accomplish the type of great projects that it accomplished for the American people during the 20th century – not just responding to a crisis like the Great Depression by reforming the banking industry but creating infrastructure projects to deliver jobs and electricity to the rural Tennessee River Valley; not just going to the moon, but building one of the world’s most extensive highway systems; not just one side pushing for solutions to an environmental problem but both sides accepting scientific facts and recognizing the need for urgency in finding big-government solutions as Republican President Nixon did with the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Thomas knows we need the same types of things done in the 21st century – bringing affordable internet infrastructure to the rural and urban poor, creating mass transportation and other transportation alternatives to internal combustion engines, mitigating the effects of climate change on Florida’s coastline and reducing the causes -- all while creating new, good-paying jobs. And he knows we can get these things done, but only when our representatives in government compromise and work together for the good of the community – when we care about each other and see one another as equals.
Making America 'nice' again
You might say, Thomas Witkop wants to make America “nice” again.
To solve these difficult challenges and others such as insufficient education and lack of affordable housing for all, he knows we must build trust in our democracy by voting and build our communities by productively exchanging ideas with people who have different viewpoints.
He knows because he has done it.
As a student at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, he worked as a Resident Assistant and in the Title IX Office to engage students in their community and reduce sexual violence. After graduating, he worked with diverse populations in a refugee community in the Canary Islands teaching English and sharing his piece of American culture. More recently, he was employed as a Volunteer Coordinator at El Sol, a Jupiter non-profit, where he helped immigrants find work, learn English, and gain self-sufficiency, and where he pioneered programs such as the Homework Club, which connected retirees to struggling students to receive one-on-one attention to improve their English and catch up in school.
He has been fortunate in his young life, and he was taught to try to share those fortunate circumstances, not hoard them. His mother, an activist for environmental and public-school policy, and his father, a criminal-defense attorney, bestowed in him a drive to give voice to those most vulnerable and to listen to the other side no matter what your prejudices. They taught him that participating in our democracy is our most powerful tool to effect change and support solutions.
Year of the Gen Z
In an election year when the pundits are focused on octogenarian candidates, several Gen Z Democrats are striving to emulate U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Orlando), who has become a Democratic superstar of sorts since 2022, when he became the first of Generation Z to ever win a seat in Congress. Teen Vogue wrote last fall about three other Democratic Gen Z candidates running for Congress this year, two of them then 26 and one 25.
Now, Thomas Witkop is stepping up to become a big part of not only making 2024 the year of Gen Z candidates but making Florida the state of Gen Z congressmen.
HOW TO SUPPORT WITKOP FOR CONGRESS
Join Thomas Witkop for his campaign launch at 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Jupiter Lighthouse Park at 500 Captain Armours Way in Jupiter. RSVP by emailing Thomas@WitkopforCongress.com
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