John,

I’d like to share a quick story about my friend, Carlos Guillermo Smith, and tell you why he needs our help to win his critical Florida Senate race, and why he’s the first candidate I’ve decided to endorse since my election to Congress.

But before I tell you how Carlos has inspired me and so many others, can you rush a contribution to help his campaign reach their $20,000 fundraising goal before his first reporting deadline at midnight to show the corporate special interests that want to defeat him that we've got his back?

I'm an organizer. I got in this fight because I didn't want to get shot in school. And I can tell you the most powerful thing we have is our story. When you look at the story of Carlos Guillermo Smith — someone who bravely represented us in Tallahassee as a member of the state House, someone who led the charge to ban assault weapons in Florida, and someone who rallied against our notorious ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ law, you see someone who has been personally impacted.

Part of Carlos' story involves a homophobic hate crime that he survived as a college student. Years later, he was on the ground supporting our community in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting. In the face of that, he stepped up to fight for everybody. So when I look at people like Carlos who have taken trauma and turned it into action, I have the utmost respect for them. Because that is how we're going to save this state and our country.

We are at a moment where vicious attacks on our freedoms and civil liberties are taking place across the nation, but especially here in Florida. Leaders have no interest in helping working families with the issues that matter — putting food on the table, keeping the lights on, accessing health care, and escaping gun violence. They don't focus on these issues because they're busy abusing their power and silencing marginalized communities.

In Carlos' last election, they threw millions in corporate money against him, all sorts of lies, bigotry, and homophobia to take him out of the Florida House. What they didn't know is that they were putting him in the Florida Senate, but only if we step up to help power Carlos' campaign.

Tallahassee remains one of the frontlines for democracy for the entire country. So we need leaders who, in the words of the great Shirley Chisolm, are "unbought and unbossed." Real fighters who won't let these cowards strip away our rights without a fight. Carlos is that fighter.

Now, let's send him to the Florida Senate to fight for all of us.

Thank you,

Maxwell Frost