Maxwell Frost formally launches re-election campaign in CD 10

Maxwell Frost announces re-election campaign. Photo via Jacob Ogles

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost has formally announced he’s running for re-election.

The freshman Democrat held an event at the IBEW Union Hall in Downtown Orlando. There, he cast his campaign not just as a personal campaign but as an effort to build a progressive movement.

“It’s not the Maxwell Frost show,” he said. “It’s about all of us.”

The move wasn’t a shock. Frost signaled he would seek re-election when he held a concert fundraiser in the district, and he has raised nearly $2.4 million for his campaign through March.

At the formal launch, he was surrounded by local Democratic officials supporting his return to Washington, including state Sens. Geraldine Thompson and Victor Torres and state Reps. Anna Eskamani and Johanna Lopez. (Torres suffered a medical incident that stopped the press conference for roughly 20 minutes)

Of note, Frost, from the microphone, endorsed Thompson’s re-election and voiced support for Carmen Torres, Sen. Torres’ wife and a candidate to succeed him, in their respective Florida Senate races. Both face well-known opposition in a Democratic primary, with Torres competing with state Rep Kristen Arrington, a Kissimmee Democrat, and Thompson challenged by former state Sen. Randolph Bracy.

The 27-year-old Frost first won election in Florida’s 10th Congressional District in 2022, making him the youngest sitting member of Congress and the first from Generation Z.

He said serving the community where he grew up has been “the honor of my life.” But he also called the race a chance for Central Florida Democrats to push back on Republican state control.

“We have a far-right wing white nationalist movement in this state that is looking to leaders like our own Governor for energy and direction,” he said, a direct dig at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Last year, Frost held an ad hoc hearing in Washington on what he called the weaponization of state government under DeSantis, and he has called for the House Oversight Committee on which he sits to investigate Florida’s state government.

But Frost also pushed back on criticism from a Democratic Primary opponent, V. Issa White, who told Florida Politics this week that Frost had made Congress his “playground” and was focused on having “fun instead of public service.”

Frost said that in his first term, despite serving in one of the least productive Congresses in history, he saw two legislative initiatives originating in his office enacted.

The first came last year when President Joe Biden crafted an executive order creating an Office of Gun Violence Prevention using legislation Frost filed as a blueprint.

The second came just last week when a bipartisan bill Frost filed with Rep. Dan Webster, a Clermont Republican, was included in the Weather Act. The provision aims to improve storm readiness for at-risk communities, including seniors and non-English speakers.

“I would say that’s pretty productive,” Frost said, “and we’re having fun while we’re doing it.”