Scott Powers
Democratic grassroots organizer Maxwell Alejandro Frost has entered the race to succeed Democratic Rep. Val Demings in Florida’s 10th Congressional District.
Frost, of Orlando, enters a primary field that already features Sen. Randolph Bracy, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala, civil rights lawyer Natalie Jackson, and the Rev. Terence Gray among at least nine Democrats who’ve filed or announced their candidacy.
CD 10 is a Democratic stronghold spanning most of western Orange County.
There also are several Republican and independent candidates running, including Republicans Willie Montague and Carter Morgan.
Demings is running for the U.S. Senate instead of for a fourth term in CD 10.
Frost most recently served as the national organizing director of the national, youth-oriented gun law reform organization March for Our Lives, one of the largest youth-led political movements in the country.
His campaign touted Frost’s chance to become the first Generation Z member of Congress, and the second Afro-Latino member of Congress.
“I’m running for Congress because everyday people are dying because they can’t afford healthcare, our state is ground zero for the climate crisis, our justice system targets the most vulnerable, and our country is being ripped apart by gun violence,” he said in a news release announcing his candidacy.
“The pandemic has severely worsened the racial and economic inequities in this district and across the country, requiring us to take bold action so that everyone in America can succeed and thrive,” Frost continued. “In Congress, I will work to take swift action to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, pass Medicare for All, reimagine public safety and justice, fight for gun violence prevention, and help ensure economic opportunity for all. This is about seeing the world through the eyes of poor and working-class people as we seek solutions to better our community. A better world is possible and we deserve it.”
Frost kicked off the campaign by announcing several endorsements, including from fellow gun law reform activist and Parkland massacre survivor David Hogg, co-founder of March for Our Lives.
Other endorsements came in from Marvelous Phillips, founder of Pouring Out Refreshing Outreach; veterans organizer Triste Ordex; Samuel Vilchez Santiago, a member of the 2020 Orange County Charter Review Commission and a 2020 Democratic candidate for the Florida House; racial justice activist Justin Tucker; and west Orlando community organizer Seth “Seven” Charleston.
“I’m ecstatic about the continuation of the legacy of March for Our Lives. First we marched to demand sweeping political change, then we mobilized a youth-led movement, and now we are taking power into our own hands. Maxwell represents the best of our generation and I’m all in on his campaign for the U.S. Congress,” Hogg said in a news release.
