Who is Maxwell Frost, the Gen Z Democratic nominee in Florida?

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Maxwell Frost sounds a lot like others of the Gen Z generation — he’s 25, drives an Uber for extra cash and recently quit his job to pursue a more promising opportunity.

His latest gig? Winning a crowded primary in Florida’s heavily Democratic 10th Congressional District on Tuesday night, giving him a strong chance of becoming a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Frost prevailed over more experienced Democrats, including former members of Congress Corrine Brown and Alan Grayson, and state Sen. Randolph Bracy, to secure the nomination. He will be the favorite in November in the reconfigured Orlando-area district.

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“I knew going into this thing that we’d be counted out because of my age,” Frost told The Washington Post in an interview Tuesday. “And I’ve been counted out a lot of my life because of my age. But I knew that if we stuck to our message, and if we kept doing the work, and we built the movement, we would win.”

He is among the new class of mold-breaking Democratic candidates this year with working-class roots. On his campaign website, he highlights the difficulties faced by his biological mother who gave him up for adoption amid what he describes as “a cycle of drugs, crime, and violence.”

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Frost campaigned on support for Medicare-for-all, demilitarizing the police, legalizing prostitution and recreational marijuana, expunging all marijuana convictions, and restoring voting rights to the incarcerated.

He was backed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), another liberal lawmaker and author of the Green New Deal, said he was “honored” to support Frost.

“We need to listen to young people and let them lead. That’s when we’ll get a Green New Deal,” Markey tweeted after news of Frost’s primary win.

Polls leading up to the primary showed Frost with the lead in the 10-candidate race, but he said his campaign team was working as hard on Election Day as it has all summer, hitting the streets at 4 a.m. to drop off campaign literature at voters’ houses.

Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who is the first Gen Z candidate to win a congressional primary, discusses his plan to engage young people in the upcoming election. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Maxwell Alejandro Frost for Congress/The Washington Post)

The minimum age to hold a seat in Congress is 25. Frost has never run for public office, but he doesn’t consider himself a political newcomer. He started working in politics when he was 15, protesting gun violence after the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

He went on to become the national organizing director for March for Our Lives, the group organized by students who survived the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in 2018. He also worked for the ACLU in Florida, supporting voting rights for formerly incarcerated citizens.

Frost refers to his as the “mass shootings generation.” March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg on Tuesday summed up the forces that he said would propel Frost to Congress: “Never underestimate the power of pissed off young people.”

Frost gained national attention four months ago when he confronted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) at an event in Orlando, shortly after the school shootings in Uvalde, Tex. In a video that circulated widely on social media, Frost is seen telling DeSantis he needs to do something about gun violence. DeSantis answered, “Nobody wants to hear from you,” and Frost is being seen escorted out.

Frost later featured the exchange prominently in some of his campaign ads, saying he wouldn’t let those politicians silence “our voices.” Frost said he thinks voters angry at DeSantis will help propel him to Congress.

“Our positive message about the world we deserve to live in is what really resonates with folks, despite what’s coming out of the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee,” Frost said.

He argued that DeSantis’s policies have motivated voters.

“Our message has resonated at this time in spite of what the governor’s doing to queer folks being scapegoated, in spite of Black people and their rights to vote being taken away by the governor, in spite of our LGBTQ plus community and Latinos and Black folks and disabled folks being scapegoated by this governor for every issue under the sun,” he said.

Frost was the top fundraiser in the race for the open seat currently held by Rep. Val Demings (D), who won the nomination for Senate on Tuesday night and will challenge Sen. Marco Rubio (R).

Amy B Wang contributed to this report.

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