A Gen-Z candidate for a local Georgia House seat recently went public with his candidacy.
23-year-old Mateo Sanabria is vying for the 28th District of Georgia’s House of Representatives as a Democrat, and spoke to AccessWDUN at a town hall for U.S. House candidate Nick Alex Thursday night.
“I’ve been passionate about politics for a long time,” Sanabria said. “People in general are craving change nowadays. We’re seeing a democracy collapse. Frankly, Donald Trump is doing everything in his power to become a dictator.”
The 28th District covers northeast Forsyth County and bleeds into western Hall County, covering the Chestatee, Coal Mountain, and north Cumming areas.
It’s a seat currently held by Incumbent Republican Brent Cox, who first won the seat in 2022.
“I’m here to fight for the average person, I’m here to represent young people,” Sanabria said.
Sanabria said housing is a huge issue for him, as he is actively looking for housing right now and wants rent prices to come down.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, rent prices have gone up by 55% since 2015 and are steadily increasing.
Another issue for Sanabria is making sure young people have access to jobs, whether it’s through schooling or the trades.
“I’m looking out for the people who went to university, who wanted to go to university, and I want to give opportunities to those who didn’t have a chance to go to university,” Sanabria said. “I want to put programs in our schools to subsidize apprenticeships.”
A more niche issue to him is the right to repair. He spoke about Apple charging hundreds of dollars for a screen replacement due to needing to get an Apple-specific screen.
“These companies are absolutely gouging people,” Sanabria said.
Sanabria, whose background is in computer science, said he will not accept money from major companies.
“I’m not going to accept money from a major company, it’s not something I ever want to do, because that’s not representative of the people I serve,” Sanabria said.
