'I'm going a little above and beyond, because it's her': Rep. Maxwell Frost on his youth vote outreach for Harris
Gen Z Rep. Maxwell Frost on how he talks to young voters on the campaign trail, more PA vibes, and my latest on what it was like to grow up as a young woman during the Trump-era.
Yesterday I spoke with Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, the only member of Gen Z in Congress. Frost is quite frankly the Democratic Party’s most authentic surrogate with young people, so this month, he’s traversed swing states and college campuses drumming up enthusiasm for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. Our conversation, edited for clarity and brevity, is below.
First thing’s first. Tell me where you’ve been over the past couple of weeks and months.
Frost: The past week we’ve been in pretty much every battleground state, and I also did some stuff for frontline Democrats and frontline Senate seats. So I was in Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada. Before all that, we did Michigan, North Carolina, and Georgia. All the usual suspects. Some of the stops are really about having a small group roundtable with the most engaged organizers and getting them revved up, because those are the people, and those are the students, that are really taking the energy from online and getting it done on the ground. And we've done big rallies, like a 200 person one in Pennsylvania. My last event I did before I left Arizona was Arizona State University. We did a ballot bash. They rented out a bar, and we just had a thing where people brought their ballots before they turned them in, and if they were of age, they had a drink.
What has been most successful in your work talking with young people about the importance of voting?
Frost: The top thing I found is really focusing in on the issues. Something I tried to do at all the campuses I went to is we had the event with people who chose to go there, and then I tried to branch out and go and speak with random people walking around, to speak to people who didn't choose to go there, to hear if there was a difference of issues and how they felt. With most of the people I spoke with, housing was a top priority for them. Especially seniors who are about to graduate, worried about being able to purchase a home, or rent, and people with off-campus student housing that are worried about their housing costs that they have personally.
I’m here in Pennsylvania, and in conversations over the past couple of days, I’ve heard a general sense of frustration and distrust in the electoral system. Someone mentioned seeing videos of ballot drop boxes on fire in Washington and Oregon. How do you help instill trust among young voters who are concerned?
Frost: What I tell people is, ‘Look instances of fraud and cheating and stuff like that in elections extremely rare.’ We shouldn't allow people like [former President] Donald Trump to scare us into not voting. That's what they want us to do, as if they want us to either be apathetic and not vote, or choose to not be a part of the process, because we don't trust the process. A lot of that is the mission.
What I always tell young people is that if we step away from this political process, people, not just people who disagree with us, but people who want to do us harm, are more than happy to step into it on our behalf. You can let that happen. You can’t let people talk for us.
You’re a surrogate for the campaign. Has there been anything they have asked you to lean into, especially given that you’re the youngest member of Congress?
No, not really. The campaign has asked me to be myself, to talk about the issues that I think a lot of young people want to hear about and really talk about my personal story while I'm supporting the campaign. That's what I've been doing. Of course, when there's news of the day, the campaign will send me information on it. If they're hearing a certain type of disinformation or lie out there, especially on college campuses, they'll reach out to me and send me some information on it. But other than that, the campaign isn't here trying to dictate everything I'm saying. Part of the reason they asked me to be a part of the national advisory board and do this travel is because they want me to be my authentic self.
What does that look like? What do you feel you bring that stands out from some of the other messengers who have been going to these places as well?
Frost: I focus in on my personal story, especially as it relates to the fact that I got involved in politics when I was 15 because I didn't want to get shot. I remember, right after the DNC, I was posting a lot about my back to school tour I did for the Vice President, and I had a friend who responded to the story and said, ‘Man, you out there busy. Get that bag.’ And I remember responding like, ‘Bro, I'm not getting a bag. I'm doing this because I believe the campaign. I'm not getting paid.’ I bring that up because the reason I'm putting in these hours for Kamala isn't just because she's our Democratic nominee. Obviously I'd be supporting the Democratic nominee whoever they are. But I'm going a little above and beyond, because it's her.
The first bill I introduced was to secure an Office of Gun Violence Prevention because an armed bigot walked in the Pulse nightclub and murdered 49 people, because an armed person walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas and murdered people, because of Sandy Hook. As a young person, I've been through more issues of gun violence, and it's been a big trauma in my life. I know a lot of young people empathize with that. It was [President] Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that took my bill and used it as the framework to create the office of gun violence prevention.
And it was Kamala Harris who, for the last year and a half, wasn’t running for office. And I've seen the passion and care she's put into making sure that we get resources to communities, so communities can be centered in ending gun violence. And when I was marching during Black Lives Matter, when I was marching during March For Our Lives, it was about two things. Number one, making sure we pass the laws that end gun violence and keep guns out of the wrong hands, but then to put resources in our communities to end this. Kamala has been on the frontlines of doing that for this country and making sure there are millions of dollars going everywhere.
Oftentimes in politics, you don't get to really know someone's heart on a lot of these issues. A lot of people are super fake. But over the last year and a half, I've actually spent a lot of time getting to of course be with the Vice President personally but also see her work on the issues I really care about.
Something I always bring up to young people is before this campaign, before she knew she would be the lead of it, she did a national tour to college campuses to talk with people. And here's the thing, she didn't do a national tour to give a speech to young people and stand on a bully pulpit and not listen to us. She did panels, she did conversations, she did Q& A's, so she could hear from us and take it back to the White House. That's real, and that's what I focus on.
What are the most effective techniques for talking with harder to reach young people online?
Frost: The campaign is doing a really good job of this with accounts like Kamala HQ. The success of that we can attribute to the fact that they gave the keys to that account to a bunch of Gen Zers, and gave them little to no oversight, and the ability to use trends to make people smile, make people laugh, but bring them in through culture and to keep them because of the issues.
The Vice President is really a big person on being a part of culture, and that being a huge part of the campaign. It's a fine line when politicians try to use the culture and use the Internet to win a campaign. I mean, most of the time, it becomes super cringey when you try to use that to win. But she's not trying to use it to win. She just wants to be a part of the conversation. And I think that's really resonated with a lot of young people.
But vibes don't always equal votes, and that's why the organizing is important because they take people who are at the table because of the vibes and make sure that they do what we need them to do, which is go out and vote as well.
What’s one piece of advice for the campaign to best reach young voters in the final days?
Frost: Any advice I’d give to them, I’ve already given. For me, I was really pressing and had a lot of calls with the campaign very early on on using culture and art and really connecting with artists. Because I think Gen Z uniquely, we love music, we love art. We love when these things are combined.
And one thing I told the campaign is we can’t just focus on the Taylor Swifts and stuff like that. It’s these kind of middle-tier artists that have fan bases that will go to the ends of the earth for them. And we see the campaign’s really leaned into that. There’s a concert in Madison today with Remi Wolf and Gracie Abrams. It’s not Taylor Swift, but Remi has a very devout fanbase. And when Remi says, ‘Go vote,’ or, ‘Go do this,’ they’re going to take that to heart, and it doesn’t feel as commercialized.
I would say let’s keep doing what we’re doing. Let’s focus on what people want to vote for and not just against.
What I’m hearing in Pennsylvania
I spent the week in Philadelphia. There’s a huge emphasis on the election (both on and off college campuses), and the past couple of days I’ve seen a lot of excitement from young voters who feel their votes truly matter in the crucial battleground. Here are some of my biggest takeaways (I’ll get more into specifics over the next couple of days, so stay tuned).
Young women say their lives are on the line.
It’s hard to find a young woman in Philadelphia who doesn’t list abortion or women’s rights as the issues motivating them to vote. Young women say the election is “about them” and that their “bodies” and “futures” are “on the line.” Many said they’re urging the men in their lives — dads, brothers, boyfriends — to vote for “their rights.”
Young men are more hesitant to list abortion as a top priority, even if they care about it.
Young men aren’t prioritizing the issue in the same way, even if it matters to them. It’s just not as “intrinsic” a young man at Temple University told me today.
Joe M, 27, from West Chester, PA, and a student at University of Pennsylvania Law School, told me that while he cares about reproductive rights: "I don't know if I can really be the spokesman."
One of the biggest misconceptions about young voters is that they’re apathetic.
A 26-year-old registered Republican said he made a list of the issues he cares about this election and ranked them 0-5 when deciding who to vote for. He chose Harris.
Growing Up in Donald Trump’s America
This election could come down to young women. They’re not a monolith, but they’ve moved left in recent years. For ELLE Magazine, I spoke to some across the political spectrum, who described growing up in the Trump-era. That period shaped their views.
