Latino Victory Fund backs Annette Taddeo for Governor, Maxwell Frost for CD 10

Latino Victory Fund leaders announced Tuesday the groups is endorsing Annette Taddeo in Florida’s gubernatorial contest and Maxwell Alejandro Frost in the race for Florida’s 10th Congressional District.

These are the first 2022 Florida endorsements for the progressive Latino political power committee.

In announcing the endorsements, Latino Victory Fund noted Taddeo’s potential to become Florida’s first Latina Governor and Frost’s potential to become one of the youngest members in Congress and the third Black Latino elected to Congress.

“Sen. Annette Taddeo is an experienced legislator who has broken barriers for Latinas in Florida politics. She’s a small business owner and a public servant who understands working families’ struggles and wants to ensure all families have the same opportunities she had growing up,” said Nathalie Rayes, Latino Victory Fund president and CEO, in a news release. “As Governor, Annette will work to expand health care access, help Floridians navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic with science-based facts, foster economic growth, and advocate for reproductive rights.”

First, Taddeo will have to energize a campaign that badly trails two other Democratic candidates in polls: former Governor and Rep. Charlie Crist and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. If she wins the August Primary Election, she’ll match with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Latino victory believed in me in my 2017 Special Election when party leaders were telling me not to run. And we made history when I became the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida Senate,” Taddeo said in a news release issued by her campaign. “Latino Victory in particular, understands that we cannot win Florida without winning back the Hispanic vote. I am honored to have Latino Victory Fund in this fight with us to take back our state and fight for real issues like affordable housing, affordable health care and helping small businesses thrive. Not manufacture fake culture wars.”

Rayes said in the Latino Victory Fund release that “Frost has been a fighter for social justice and has pushed for policies that put Floridians first. The Latino community is young and growing — and this must be reflected in our Latino leadership in Congress. Frost will be an empowering voice for Latino’s growing and influential demographic.”

Frost is in a Democratic battle royal ahead of the August Democratic Primary in CD 10, which spans western Orange County. Other candidates include Sen. Randolph Bracy, the Rev. Terence Gray, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala and civil rights lawyer Natalie Jackson.

They’re all vying for a seat in a western Orange County district that leans strongly Democratic, and which is opening because Democratic Rep. Val Demings is running for the U.S. Senate. Frost’s campaign has been out fundraising all of them since he entered in August.

“My mother and grandmother came to Florida from Cuba in the 1960s, as a part of the Freedom Flights with no money to their name and nothing but a suitcase. I am a direct product of their sacrifices and hard work, so it is a tremendous honor to receive this endorsement from Latino Victory Fund,” Frost said in a news release issued by his campaign. “They are responsible for so many Latino victories across the country and I’m so excited to have them join our movement here in Central Florida to help create the future we all deserve.”