US Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Gen Z member from Florida, goes big at his first DNC

CHICAGO — If you noticed a whirlwind around the Windy City this week, it might have been Orlando Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.

Frost, who at age 27 is the U.S. House’s first-ever member from Gen Z, was seemingly everywhere at the weeklong Democratic National Convention to nominate Kamala Harris for president.

Frost addressed a Democratic Hispanic Caucus meeting (he is Afro-Cuban) as well as the party’s environmental and climate crisis council. He spoke at one panel sponsored by the publication Axios and was interviewed by ABC News, PBS, the Washington Post and Politico, and the progressive magazine Mother Jones.

He addressed his home-state Florida delegation breakfast, where he told delegates, “We know that Florida is in play. We know that Florida is coming back.”

On the fourth and final night of the convention, Frost is slated to address the audience at United Center. This is his first time attending a Democratic convention.

Frost was an apologetic no-show to the Democratic youth caucus session on the convention’s final day. “I woke up with no voice,” Frost said in a note read to the crowd. Because of his pending nighttime speech from the podium, he said he needed to rest his voice during the day.

Observers say Frost has made a bigger splash as a young congressional Democrat than anyone since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and his party hopes that he will become a strong ambassador to younger voters, who historically lean Democratic but are notoriously fickle about showing up to vote.

In his written message that was read to the youth caucus, Frost said he expected to be on the campaign trail intensively as Election Day approaches.

Frost “represents the views of many young voters who Democrats desperately need to mobilize if they are to have the best chance of winning the presidency, keeping control of the Senate, and gaining control of the House,” said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett. “Those younger voters tend to be more progressive than the establishment Democratic Party and have been frustrated by the older leaders of the party.”

Frost’s adoptive parents immigrated from Cuba in the 1960s. Frost cut his teeth in progressive politics starting at age 15, in response to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. His focus on gun violence intensified after the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, and he also focused on racial justice and voting rights restoration for felons.

He won a 10-way primary for the House in 2022, when Democratic Rep. Val Demings ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Frost’s Orlando-based district is notably diverse: 35% non-Hispanic white, 24% Black, 30% Latino and 5% Asian. It gave nearly two-thirds of its vote to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in 2020.

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Housing policy is a special issue for Frost. He attracted attention shortly after being elected to Congress for publicizing his troubles with finding an affordable place to live in Washington, D.C.

In Chicago, he’s made a point of championing Harris’ recently announced housing policy agenda, which calls for 3 million new housing units over four years and $25,000 in down payment support for first-time home buyers.

Frost’s background is from the party’s progressive wing, but he has taken some heat from the activist left for being too friendly to the party establishment.

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

“This election is important because, if we elect Donald Trump again, it’s not a pause in progress, it’s a rollback,” Frost said in the interview with Mother Jones. “More people will die of gun violence. He wants mass deportations of certain communities. Nothing will be done about the climate crisis. People will literally die. We’re experiencing extreme heat right now that’s killing more people than ever before. … So we’ve got to make sure we don’t let that guy anywhere near the White House. Kamala Harris is going to save lives.”

Democratic strategist Steve Schale acknowledged that he didn’t initially support Frost in the 2022 Democratic primary for his House seat, but he said he’s now a convert.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that if he plays his cards right, he can be a leader for a long time,” Schale said.

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

“He has a good background story,” Foreman said. “Young people really like him.”

Foreman cautioned that Frost will need to prove himself with legislation and leadership roles in Congress before building broader national appeal. That said, Foreman said Frost “has promise as a political leader and a voice for his generation.”

If he can first give that voice enough rest, that is.

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