The Delaware General Assembly welcomes its first Generation Z representative.
26-year-old Sophie Phillips won the 18th House District with 70% of the vote - and replaces fellow Democrat David Bentz, who chose not to run again.
She enters a General Assembly that’s become significantly more diverse, something she expects will make a difference in legislation considered this session.
“Every new person that comes in with a diverse background has a new perspective," Phillips says. "And when you're writing policy, you need to make sure that you’re taking in so many different perspectives so you’re not just writing policy for one population.”
The University of Delaware grad has a masters degree in energy and environmental policy and is vice chair of the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee - where she plans to focus heavily on environmental legislation.
“Electric vehicle related, also open space," Phillips says. "We’ve been seeing a lot of development and with that comes a lot of issues with tree cutting and wildlife and all of these natural species you don’t think about.”
She adds she supports a number of bills that have previously been unable to pass the House, like recreational marijuana legislation, LEOBOR reforms, and the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act.
Phillips says she had concerns arriving at Leg Hall as a freshman lawmaker, but is quickly building friendships, even across the aisle.
“Now that I’m seeing that they’re caring about youth issues and they’re willing to listen to me and they’re willing to listen to other legislators that have that different perspective, it’s really exciting," she says. "It’s making me a lot less nervous to start writing and passing my own policy. It’s a great thing to see, it’s not what I expected and it’s a lot more open.”
Phillips says Generation Z is largely defined by social media literacy, which she used a lot during her campaign and plans to continue using to reach younger audiences.
She adds she expects to see more young people like her run for office in the next several years.
