The Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed Oliver Larkin in a primary challenge against Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) to represent Florida’s 25th District, a seat redrawn by state Republicans earlier this year to favor the GOP. The district, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, was won by Donald Trump by nine points in 2020, making it a far more difficult target than the safely Democratic seats where DSA-backed candidates recently ousted incumbents in New York and Colorado.
DSA Sees Florida as Next Battleground
“The movement moves from New York to Colorado to FLORIDA!” the DSA said on social media, signaling their intent to replicate the successes of Melat Kiros in Colorado and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York. Socialist influencer Hasan Piker hosted a virtual fundraiser for Larkin on Tuesday. The DSA’s national co-chair, Megan Romer, said the organization helped coordinate 500,000 phone calls for Kiros and will do the same for Larkin. “We believe that we can run in tough territory,” Romer said.
Larkin, a 34-year-old progressive activist, has built his campaign around opposition to U.S. aid to Israel and support for criminal justice reform. He argued that his message can appeal to conservative-leaning voters. “This one is the next one up, the place where we can prove the viability that this Democratic socialist vision and his movement across the country is not just confined to the deep blue districts,” Larkin told HuffPost. “This is, in fact, what Democrats need to embrace writ large if we’re going to take back the House in November.”
Moskowitz: A Tough Incumbent
Moskowitz, 45, has served in the House since 2023 and is highly visible on social media and television, making him harder to paint as an out-of-touch Washington insider. He held up giant photos of Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein before Democrats widely criticized Trump’s association with the sex predator. Larkin criticized Moskowitz for voting for the Laken Riley Act, supporting Israel, and joining the “DOGE Caucus,” a fan club for Elon Musk. “We’ve got people who are really upset about what Elon Musk and DOGE did to the federal government,” Larkin said, adding that the Florida AFL-CIO declined to endorse Moskowitz partly due to his DOGE ties.
A survey released this week found Moskowitz leading by more than 30 points, with 64% of Democratic voters saying they favored whichever candidate could beat a Republican in November. However, 28% of voters were undecided. “I think this is really a toss-up environment as soon as people learn about our campaign,” Larkin said.
Risk of Flipping the Seat to GOP
Establishment Democrats have downplayed DSA primary wins in safe blue districts, but the 25th District is different. A socialist candidate opposing Israel aid could struggle with the district’s large population of older Jewish voters. A Larkin victory could hand the seat to the GOP in the general election. Larkin defended his stance, pointing to DSA-backed Zohran Mamdani’s success in New York City, which has the largest Jewish population outside Israel. “People in general just do not like to see our taxpayer-dollars going toward war crimes, toward genocide and toward propping up a Jim Crow apartheid regime when so many of us are struggling here,” Larkin said.
DSA’s First Federal Endorsement of 2025
In its endorsement in March, the DSA called Larkin a candidate who would take on “one of the most war-mongering” Democrats in Congress. It was the DSA’s first endorsement of a candidate for federal office this year. “We will no longer allow billionaire-backed democrats to claim that we have to spend billions on war while healthcare is further decimated — we’re challenging them in the primaries with organized people who can’t be bought,” the group said on its website. The winner of the Aug. 18 Democratic primary will face the winner of a crowded Republican primary featuring Scott Singer, George Moraitis, Joe Kaufman, Daniel Franzese, and Raven Harrison.
