A closely watched Democratic primary ended decisively Tuesday night, eliminating a candidate backed by a national political organization that has been attempting to expand its influence within the party.
The result settles one intraparty fight, but the winner now moves immediately into what could become one of the most competitive congressional races in Florida this November.
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Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., defeated Democratic Socialists of America-backed challenger Oliver Larkin in the Democratic primary for Florida’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District.
Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Moskowitz shortly after polls closed Tuesday.
With more than 95% of ballots counted, Moskowitz held 66.7% of the vote compared with Larkin’s 33.3%, giving the incumbent roughly a two-to-one victory.
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Larkin, a former campaign staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and challenged Moskowitz from the party’s progressive left.
The national DSA endorsed Larkin in April, making his campaign the organization’s first federal congressional endorsement of the 2026 election cycle.
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Local DSA chapters also supported Larkin as he campaigned on a platform that included Medicare for All, a $25 federal minimum wage and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Moskowitz, meanwhile, has attempted to establish himself as a more moderate voice within the Democratic Party while remaining a frequent and outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.
The congressman previously served as a Florida state lawmaker and later headed the Florida Division of Emergency Management before winning election to Congress.
Tuesday’s comfortable primary victory, however, may have been the easier part of Moskowitz’s path back to Washington.
The political landscape surrounding his seat changed dramatically after Florida Republicans redrew the state’s congressional boundaries this year.
Oliver Larkin has lost the FL-25 primary to incumbent Jared Moskowitz pic.twitter.com/0YRTR84XqW
— Popstonox (@Popstonox) August 19, 2026
Moskowitz’s former 23rd Congressional District was dismantled, forcing him to seek reelection in the newly configured 25th District.
The new district follows a narrow coastal corridor stretching from the Boca Raton area through Broward County and into Miami-Dade County.
That territory presents a significantly different political challenge than the safely Democratic terrain Moskowitz previously represented.
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President Trump carried the territory contained within the newly drawn district by approximately nine percentage points during the 2024 presidential election, according to an analysis by Florida Politics.
Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have subsequently rated the congressional contest a toss-up.
Republicans therefore see the district as a major pickup opportunity as the party attempts to protect its House majority in November’s midterm elections.
Moskowitz will face former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, who emerged Tuesday from a considerably more crowded Republican primary.
Singer defeated four Republican opponents with 31.4% of the vote, according to Decision Desk HQ.
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The matchup gives voters a general election between a two-term Democratic congressman attempting to survive on newly Republican-friendly territory and a former Republican mayor seeking to flip the seat.
For the Democratic Socialists of America, however, Tuesday’s result ended what the organization had hoped would become an early congressional breakthrough in the 2026 election cycle.
Larkin’s endorsement was particularly notable because the national organization chose his campaign as its first federal congressional endorsement of the year, putting its support behind an effort to unseat an incumbent Democrat rather than simply contest an open seat.
Moskowitz’s margin suggests Democratic primary voters in the district were not persuaded to replace him with a candidate running substantially to his left.
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The congressman captured approximately two-thirds of the Democratic vote despite Larkin’s national DSA endorsement and progressive platform.
But Moskowitz now faces an entirely different electorate in November, when Republicans and independents will join Democratic voters in deciding control of a district Trump carried two years earlier, Newsmax reported.
With major election forecasters already describing the seat as a toss-up, Moskowitz’s decisive primary victory may ultimately serve only as the opening round of a much tougher fight.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
