After cruising to re-election, youngest member of U.S. Congress visits Sarasota.
By Tamara Solum
Original Air Date: May 7, 2025
Host: At just 25 years old, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Orlando was the youngest representative ever when he was first elected to Congress in 2022. Now, after his re-election by a comfortable margin of 62% last fall, he is touring the country. Ahead of his visit to Sarasota this Saturday, WSLR News reporter Tamara Solum talked to him.
Tamara Solum: Max Frost has a history with Sarasota, and New College is very much on his radar screen.
Max Frost. Photo by Jemal Countess
Maxwell Frost: Sarasota has a special place in my heart because I used to live there. For about a year, one of the first campaigns I worked—I think I was 19 years old—and I worked for Margaret Good, who was someone who ran for office there locally, and I was her field director for a bit of time. Then I worked another campaign in Sarasota as well. I know Sarasota is such a beautiful area, and we’ve seen the attacks from state government on institutions of higher learning like New College of Florida.
TS: I got the chance to speak with Frost about his upcoming road trip to Sarasota this Saturday, May 10. He is scheduled to appear together with Representative Chris Murphy from Connecticut for an “On the Road” Town Hall.
Responding to requests nationwide, Murphy and Frost are trying to respond to Americans’ concerns. The Frost and Murphy show comes as Republicans have been given the official word to stop hosting town halls. Constituents have been showing up mad about the gutting of government services and jobs as well as the blanket tariffs.
MF: People are doing what we’re supposed to do in a democracy. When you’re upset with something, you show up to a town hall and you tell your representative, but representatives in the United States Congress from the Republican side don’t want to face their constituents because the heat is a lot to take. That is why they’ve been instructed to halt all their town halls to stop facing their constituents. This is part of the reason we’re coming to Sarasota, specifically to Greg Steube’s district.
Max Frost. Photo by Jemal Countess
TS: Frost wants to let Americans know that he understands the concerns of people living paycheck to paycheck and that billionaires such as Elon Musk should not have the kind of influence on how our government is being run.
MF: Elon Musk wants people in Sarasota that can’t afford healthcare to be mad at trans people because of that. Elon Musk and Donald Trump want people in Sarasota that can’t afford to send their kids to school to be mad at an immigrant for that. Our message is that we actually have more in common with each other than what separates us, and that one thing is the fact that we’re working people.
TS: As a representative for a large immigrant population, he has taken action regarding deportations, including a recent trip to El Salvador.
MF: Our laws state very plainly that every person in this nation is entitled to due process—that no president can point at you and say, “Because of your hoodie or because of your tattoos, I’m sending you to a foreign gulag.” That can’t happen in America. That is against the values and the foundation of this country. I went over there because of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but it’s not really just about him. It’s about what he represents and what his situation represents—that the president of the United States is joking in the Oval Office that he’s going to do this to citizens next, and in fact, citizens have been deported.
TS: Discussing Elon Musk’s actions, he mentioned that as a member of the House Oversight Committee, he is involved in multiple Congressional investigations.
Max Frost. Photo by Garrett Brown
One particular area of concern for Frost, because of its impact on Floridians, is the cuts to the National Weather Service.
MF: They went to the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center and fired a bunch of people and offered early retirement to a bunch of people, and that mass firing is going to impact us during hurricane season. I’m sure that the men and women—people—of the National Weather Service and NOAA—who are heroes, in my opinion—are going to work double as hard to make sure that they still help save lives across the state of Florida and across the country, but they’re going to do so with less capacity and less staff, and I don’t know about you all, but I want the most people and the best people working to ensure that we’re going to know exactly when a hurricane hits, the path it’s going down and how it’s going to impact our people.
TS: Central Florida has been bucking the political trend of the last election. There is a younger demographic in Frost’s district, and he says he is excited to be supporting State Representative Anna Eskamani, who is now running for mayor of Orlando:
MF: The people trust her, and she understands exactly what needs to happen in our region and the role that the city of Orlando must play in the region to get to that. The city of Orlando and Central Florida are actually trending more Democratic. Actually, just yesterday, a city commissioner came out and changed his party from Republican to Democrat. We’re hearing the opposite statewide from a lot of people, and I think it just shows that we’re building something very special in Central Florida. What a lot of people don’t realize is that Orlando, Florida is actually a very young city. We’ve really only had a few mayors. We haven’t been around as long as many of these other cities. It shows that we have an opportunity to grow and grow in a very specific vision. It’s really exciting.
Max Frost. Photo by Ike Hayman
TS: When asked about his priorities for this term, Frost brings up the housing crisis, both nationally and in Florida. He is currently working on a Housing Package Bill.
MF: What we really need at the federal level is a housing package. We need a housing omnibus bill that will protect tenants, help us lower rent, help us make more avenues for homeownership, help us drive down the cost of homeowner’s insurance—and we need to do this very soon.
TS: This is Tamara Solum, WSLR News.
You can listen to the full interview with Maxwell Frost here.
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