Oliver Larkin, a 34-year-old DSA-backed candidate, is challenging two-term incumbent Jared Moskowitz in the Democratic primary for Florida's newly drawn 25th congressional district, with voting set for August 18. Larkin campaigns on universal healthcare, free public university tuition, mass affordable housing construction, and abolishing ICE, while Moskowitz — who styles himself a 'DeSantis Democrat' — has avoided debates and public forums.
The district is unusually competitive, split nearly evenly among Democrats, Republicans and independents, making it a test of whether DSA's wins elsewhere can translate to redrawn, right-leaning terrain. Larkin, a former Bernie Sanders campaign organizer and union organizer, launched his bid at a protest against the Alligator Alcatraz detention camp.
A political scientist quoted in the piece suggests policy substance can outrun the socialist label with voters, but is unsure Florida is ready yet.
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