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The high-stakes battle between the left wing and the center-left establishment over the future of the Democratic Party takes the spotlight Tuesday in Florida, where a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) faces a more moderate incumbent Democrat who supports Israel.
After attention-grabbing left-wing victories this month by Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in crucial Democratic Senate nomination showdowns, and a major setback for the DSA with the defeat of DSA member Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, the next faceoff in the party’s civil war comes in Florida, which, along with Alaska and Wyoming, is holding primaries.
The Senate primaries in Alaska and Florida will set up crucial general election showdowns in the fight for control of the chamber. Floridians will pick the major party nominees in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, while longtime Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is fighting for political survival against a socialist candidate in a dramatically altered congressional district.
But the primary grabbing the most national attention is in Florida’s 25th District, where DSA-endorsed Oliver Larkin is challenging the more moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz in a key congressional swing district that’s among roughly two dozen House seats that will determine whether Republicans hold onto their razor-thin majority in the midterm elections.
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The 33-year-old Larkin, a veteran of Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, is the only DSA-endorsed House candidate running in a crucial congressional swing district.
Larkin says he supports abolishing the U.S. Senate, arguing in a Fox News interview that it’s an “undemocratic institution,” and has referred to Israel’s ruling coalition as a “religious supremacist regime.”
Moskowitz is a strong and vocal supporter of Israel and has advocated for robust U.S. military and security assistance.
The two-term federal lawmaker, a former state representative and Florida emergency management director, is running for re-election in the state’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District, a Broward County-anchored swing seat in the southeastern corner of the one-time battleground state that has leaned red.
Moskowitz, who enjoys establishment backing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is also supported by AIPAC, a major pro-Israel political group. Larkin has support from prominent far-left figures, including controversial political streamer Hasan Piker.
Wasserman Schultz, an 11-term congresswoman and former Democratic National Committee chair, is running for re-election in the newly drawn 20th District, even though she lives in an adjacent district. She has faced criticism from Black leaders for being the only White candidate running for a majority-minority seat that has been represented by Black lawmakers for three decades.
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The field includes former congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned from Congress in April over allegations that she misused $5 million in federal funds, which she denies; former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness; and community activist Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, a rapper best known for his role in 2 Live Crew.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading political group on the left, is backing Elijah Manley, a 27-year-old substitute teacher who overcame childhood homelessness.
In the race to succeed DeSantis, Rep. Byron Donalds enjoys the backing of President Donald Trump. The large field of contenders also includes Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, and businessman James Fishback.
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Former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who became a Democrat last year, is the best-known candidate running for his party’s gubernatorial nomination. No Democrat has won an election for Florida governor in more than three decades.
Florida’s Senate primary will tee up the race to fill out the remainder of the term previously held by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stepped down from the Senate early last year to serve in the Trump administration.
DeSantis appointed then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill the vacant seat. She faces three primary challengers on Tuesday.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who gained national attention after testifying in Trump’s first impeachment trial, faces progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon for the Democratic nomination.
Democrats are hoping to flip the Senate seat in the midterms, as they aim to win back the Senate majority.
Democrats also have their eyes on red-leaning Alaska, where Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is running for re-election and is expected to face a formidable challenge from former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola.
Sullivan and Peltola are the best-known candidates among the 16 contenders in the state’s all-party primary, where the top four vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
A former teacher also named Dan Sullivan is on the ballot. Republicans unsuccessfully tried to block the other Dan Sullivan from appearing on the ballot, accusing him of colluding with Democrats to help elect Peltola by confusing voters, an accusation he and the Peltola campaign have denied.
Meanwhile, Peltola made headlines last week by distancing herself from an endorsement coming from former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Alaska also has crowded primary fields in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy and in the contest for the state’s sole congressional seat, where Republican Rep. Nick Begich is seeking re-election.
In bright-red Wyoming, Trump is backing Rep. Harriet Hageman in her bid to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
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There are also primaries for governor, where GOP Gov. Mark Gordon is term-limited, and for the state’s at-large U.S. House seat, which Hageman is leaving to run for the Senate.
Meanwhile, four months after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell quit Congress amid sexual assault allegations that sank his bid for California governor, voters in his former Bay Area district will choose a replacement. Both candidates on the ballot are Democrats, meaning the GOP’s razor-thin House majority will narrow further.
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