U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Gen Z member from Florida, goes full throttle at his first DNC

CHICAGO – If you noticed a whirlwind in the Windy City this week, it might have been Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Orlando, Florida.

Frost, who at 27 is the first member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Generation Z, seemed to be everywhere at the week-long Democratic convention to nominate Kamala Harris as presidential candidate.

Frost spoke at a meeting of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus (he is Afro-Cuban) and before the party’s Environment and Climate Crisis Council. He spoke on a panel sponsored by Axios magazine and was interviewed by ABC News, PBS, the Washington Post and Politico, as well as the progressive magazine Mother Jones.

He spoke to his home state of Florida’s delegation at breakfast and told delegates, “We know Florida is in the game. We know Florida is coming back.”

On the fourth and final evening of the convention, Frost is scheduled to give a speech at the United Center. It is his first visit to a Democratic convention.

Frost apologized for not showing up for the Democratic Youth Caucus meeting on the last day of the convention. “I woke up and had no voice,” Frost said in a note read to the crowd. With his speech pending that evening, he said he needed to rest his voice during the day.

Observers say Frost has made more noise as a young Democrat in Congress than anyone since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. His party hopes he will emerge as a strong ambassador to younger voters who traditionally lean Democratic but are known for being slow to vote.

In his written message, which was read to the youth caucus, Frost said he expected to be heavily involved in the campaign in the run-up to election day.

Frost “represents the views of many young voters that Democrats desperately need to mobilize if they want the best chance of winning the presidency, retaining control of the Senate and gaining control of the House,” said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett. “These younger voters tend to be more progressive than the establishment Democratic Party and are frustrated with the party’s older leaders.”

Frost’s adoptive parents emigrated from Cuba in the 1960s. Frost got his first taste of progressive politics when he responded to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut at age 15. His focus on gun violence intensified after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016, and he also became involved in racial justice and restoring voting rights for felons.

He won a 10-candidate primary for the House of Representatives in 2022 when Democratic Rep. Val Demings ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Frost’s Orlando-based district is remarkably diverse: 35% non-Hispanic white, 24% black, 30% Latino and 5% Asian. Nearly two-thirds of his vote went to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020.

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Housing policy is a particular issue for Frost. Shortly after his election to Congress, he attracted attention by publicly sharing his difficulties in finding affordable housing in Washington, DC.

In Chicago, he is a strong advocate for Harris’ recently announced housing policy, which calls for the construction of three million new housing units within four years and a $25,000 down payment for first-time buyers.

Frost originally comes from the progressive wing of the party, but has faced criticism from the activist left for being too friendly toward the party establishment.

At a convention where tensions over Israel and Palestine have heightened tensions within the party and especially among younger Democrats, Frost has tried to strike a difficult balance. But whatever his tone, Frost has made clear his support for the Democratic slate of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“This election is important because if we re-elect Donald Trump, it’s not a halt in progress, it’s a step backwards,” Frost told Mother Jones. “More people are going to die from gun violence. He wants mass deportations of certain communities. Nothing is being done about the climate crisis. People are literally going to die. We’re experiencing extreme heat right now that’s killing more people than ever before. … So we need to make sure we don’t let this guy anywhere near the White House. Kamala Harris is going to save lives.”

Democratic strategist Steve Schale acknowledged that he initially did not support Frost in the 2022 Democratic primary for his House seat, but said he is now a convert.

“I have no doubt that if he plays his cards right, he can be a leader for a long time,” Schale said.

Sean Foreman, a political scientist at Barry University, called Frost “the real deal.”

“He’s got a good backstory,” Foreman said. “Young people really like him.”

Foreman cautioned that Frost would need to prove himself in legislative and leadership roles in Congress before he could gain national appeal. Still, Foreman said Frost “shows great promise as a political leader and voice of his generation.”

That is, if he can give his voice enough rest first.

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