Campaign

Warren, Jayapal endorse 24-year-old progressive in race to replace Demings

by Julia Manchester - 05/24/22 11:17 AM ET

Anna Rose Layden
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) listens as Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) speaks to reporters about the ethical concerns of members’ of Congress stock trading practices during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 7, 2022.

Florida progressive House candidate Maxwell Alejandro Frost scored a number of high-profile progressive endorsements this week from figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

“I am proud to endorse Maxwell Alejandro Frost in Florida’s 10th Congressional District because we need more community organizers in Congress, and he will fight tooth and nail for working people — to fix our rigged economic system, raise wages to keep up with rising costs, and get our nation’s housing crisis under control,” Warren said in a statement.

“He’s been a national leader in the fight to end gun violence. We need more people with backgrounds like his in Congress — more people who will fight for a future for all of our kids — and I’m glad to fight by his side,” she continued.

Frost also received the formal backing of Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), former NAACP President Ben Jealous and labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta. The Communication Workers of America and Way to Lead also put their support behind Frost.

The progressive organizer is running in the Democratic primary in Florida’s 10th Congressional District, which is located in the greater Orlando area. Rep. Val Demings (D) currently represents the district but is running for Senate in November.

Frost, a Gen Z organizer and survivor of gun violence, is 24 and the youngest candidate running in the district. He has raised nearly a million dollars, beating out his closest competitor by a 2-to-1 margin at this point in the campaign.

Earlier this month, he received endorsements from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s campaign arm.

The district is considered solidly Democratic, but Frost will face seven other primary opponents in the Aug. 23 primary, including state Sen. Randolph Bracy (D), attorney Natalie Jackson and the Rev. Terence Gray.

Republicans running for the district include retired Army Col. Cal Wimbish and nonprofit executive Willie Montague.