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Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Republican primary)
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| Florida's 23rd Congressional District |
|---|
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: April 26, 2024 |
| Primary: August 20, 2024 General: November 5, 2024 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Florida |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st • 22nd • 23rd • 24th • 25th • 26th • 27th • 28th Florida elections, 2024 U.S. Congress elections, 2024 U.S. Senate elections, 2024 U.S. House elections, 2024 |
A Republican Party primary took place on August 20, 2024, in Florida's 23rd Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.
Joe Kaufman advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 23.
All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies.[1] As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.
In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 51.6%-46.8%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 56.3%-43.1%.[2]
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Florida utilizes a closed primary process, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.[3][4]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Florida's 23rd Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Democratic primary)
- Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2024
Candidates and election results
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 23
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 23 on August 20, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Joe Kaufman ![]() | 35.4 | 9,503 | |
Robert Weinroth ![]() | 20.6 | 5,524 | ||
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar ![]() | 19.1 | 5,118 | ||
| Carla Spalding | 10.6 | 2,844 | ||
Joe Thelusca ![]() | 7.2 | 1,923 | ||
| Gary Barve | 7.2 | 1,923 | ||
| Total votes: 26,835 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Steve Chess (R)
- Rafael Ortiz (R)
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Swaffar is a successful business owner who can bring practical experience to create jobs and opportunity for our community. An expert in Medicare, Health Insurance, Banking, Mortgages, Recruiting, Project Management and Entrepreneurship, Darlene is ready to implement real strategies to improve the lives of Florida District 23 Residents. As a candidate who believes in Law and Order and Fiscal Responsibility, Swaffar feels that our nation needs to focus on: Border Security, Economic Development, and Job Creation; Controlling Inflation; Ending Drug and Sex Trafficking; Revamping Education for our Children; Providing Solutions to improve Medicare and Social Security to prevent insolvency; and providing more support for our Veterans. Why Send Darlene to DC? Drug-infested Brooklyn, NY in the early 1980's was a tough place to grow up, but Darlene Swaffar is thankful for the experience. Navigating the mean streets of the notorious ‘hood taught the young woman how to survive and thrive through the use of critical thinking and compassion for others. Today, Swaffar uses those skills like a superpower. Darlene Swaffar is not a Politician. If fact, she is not an establishment pick. Swaffar has lived and worked in South Florida as an entrepreneur for the past 30 years, and she understands what every day Americans have to go through in their efforts to raise their children in safe communities while trying to earn a living. Now, she’s determined to do whatever she can to help."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Florida District 23 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I was born in Detroit and raised by my grandparents in Yonkers, NY. I attended the University of Maryland, where I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communications. Following the 9/11 attacks, I devoted my life to fighting terrorism. Today, I am a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and write for the center’s publication FrontPage. I am also the Chairman of the Joe Kaufman Security Initiative, a non-profit 501(c)(3) devoted to educating the public on matters of national security. I have assisted Homeland Security, the Defense Department, the Secret Service and the FBI in going after the people who threaten us most. I have been instrumental in getting terrorist charities shut down and terror-related individuals placed behind bars. I led the shutdown of a pro-Hamas conference that was to take place this past January at the Coral Springs Marriott. I was also the one who supplied Florida government agencies with information about radical imam Fadi Kablawi, who recently called for a genocide against Jews. I was concerned that the private school Kablawi was affiliated with receives tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer-funded vouchers. No organization linked to violent hatred against Jews, Christians or anyone should receive a dime of taxpayers’ funds. Because of my unique background, I will have an immediate impact in Congress on issues concerning national security, counter-terrorism, and foreign policy."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Florida District 23 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I am running for this congressional office because I am passionate about making positive changes in the lives of the residents of this district. I want to address the pressing issues that are affecting our community, such as high property insurance costs, heavy traffic, housing affordability, and homelessness. I believe that as a resident of this district, I understand the needs and concerns of the people. What sets me apart from my opponent is my unique background and qualifications. I came to this country as a young teenager, not speaking English, and through hard work and determination, I was able to excel in school and in my career. I was elected to a local school board at a young age, making me the youngest elected official in the state. I have also worked for two Republican governors and a U.S. Republican President, which has given me valuable experience in government and politics. In 2017, I was a White House’s finalist for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Haiti. This experience has given me insight into diplomacy and foreign relations, which will be valuable in my role as a congressman. Additionally, my background as a Black Preacher has allowed me to build strong relationships with leaders in the faith community, particularly in Black churches. I believe that I can rally strong support from minority communities and religious groups, which will be crucial in winning this election."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Florida District 23 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Two years ago, I endorsed the incumbent for Congress in the hopes he would be a conservative voice to bring the Democratic Party away from the hard-core Socialist anti-Semitic left. Sadly, he’s failed. It has been made clear to me that no one who dares challenge the failed progressive ideology dominating today’s Democratic Party will be taken seriously. I was a longtime conservative Democrat who, as Boca Raton Councilman and Palm Beach County Commissioner and Mayor, cut taxes and resisted wokeness.” Now, I am running for Congress to stop the radical Democrats whom the incumbent refuses to confront. I “walked away” from a Democratic Party that has veered off course. I bring to my public service a broad background as an executive and general counsel in insurance, finance and health care industries. I understand the pressures of running a company, making payroll and paying vendors without the luxury of “printing money” to make ends meet. My public service has included being elected chair of the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency where he made reducing traffic congestion a top priority and chair of the Palm Tran Service Board where he championed a vibrant public transportation system.. In Congress, I will employ my experience in business, law and government to be an effective voice for taxpayers and our conservative values against woke Democrats hopelessly tied to a radical “squad” of extremists who hate America. "
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Florida District 23 in 2024.
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Florida
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Barve | Republican Party | $29,154 | $28,977 | $2,040 | As of September 30, 2024 |
| Darlene Cerezo Swaffar | Republican Party | $113,834 | $113,652 | $182 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Joe Kaufman | Republican Party | $166,714 | $101,955 | $62,789 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Carla Spalding | Republican Party | $759,650 | $745,570 | $26,999 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Joe Thelusca | Republican Party | $94,647 | $94,647 | $0 | As of September 29, 2024 |
| Robert Weinroth | Republican Party | $371,529 | $369,942 | $1,588 | As of December 31, 2024 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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District analysis
Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.
- District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
- Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
- Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
- State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Florida.
| Florida U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Districts/ offices |
Seats | Open seats | Candidates | Possible primaries | Contested Democratic primaries | Contested Republican primaries | % of contested primaries | Incumbents in contested primaries | % of incumbents in contested primaries | ||||
| 2024 | 28 | 28 | 1 | 101 | 56 | 9 | 21 | 53.6% | 15 | 55.6% | ||||
| 2022 | 28 | 28 | 6 | 151 | 56 | 14 | 24 | 67.9% | 17 | 73.9% | ||||
| 2020 | 27 | 27 | 2 | 114 | 54 | 10 | 19 | 53.7% | 10 | 40.0% | ||||
| 2018 | 27 | 27 | 4 | 104 | 54 | 19 | 12 | 57.4% | 11 | 47.8% | ||||
| 2016 | 27 | 27 | 7 | 100 | 54 | 11 | 13 | 44.4% | 9 | 47.4% | ||||
| 2014 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 75 | 54 | 5 | 10 | 27.8% | 8 | 29.6% | ||||
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Florida in 2024. Information below was calculated on May 7, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
One hundred three candidates ran for Florida’s 28 U.S. House districts, including 42 Democrats and 61 Republicans. That’s 3.68 candidates per district, less than in the previous three election cycles. There were 5.43 candidates per district in 2022, 4.22 candidates per district in 2020, and 3.86 in 2018.
The 8th Congressional District was the only open district, meaning no incumbents filed to run. That’s the fewest open seats in Florida since 2014 when no seats were open. Incumbent Rep. Bill Posey (R-8th) did not run for re-election because he is retired from public office.
Seven candidates—incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-23rd) and six Republicans—ran for the 23rd Congressional District, the most candidates who ran for a seat in 2024.
Thirty primaries—nine Democratic and 21 Republican—were contested in 2024. Thirty-eight primaries were contested in 2022, 29 primaries were contested in 2020, and 31 primaries were contested in 2018.
Fifteen incumbents—two Democrats and 13 Republicans—were in contested primaries in Florida in 2024. That’s less than the 17 incumbents in contested primaries in 2022 but more than the 10 incumbents in contested primaries in 2020.
The 20th Congressional District is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans will appear on the ballot. Democrats filed to run in every congressional district, meaning none are guaranteed to Republicans.Partisan Voter Index
Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+5. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 5 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Florida's 23rd the 165th most Democratic district nationally.[5]
2020 presidential election results
The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.
| 2020 presidential results in Florida's 23rd based on 2024 district lines | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden |
Donald Trump | |||
| 56.3% | 43.1% | |||
Inside Elections Baselines
- See also: Inside Elections
Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.[6] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.
| Inside Elections Baseline for 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Baseline |
Republican Baseline |
Difference | ||
| 54.4 | 44.7 | D+9.7 | ||
Presidential voting history
- See also: Presidential election in Florida, 2020
Florida presidential election results (1900-2020)
- 17 Democratic wins
- 14 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | D | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | D | R | R | D | D | R | R |
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of Florida's congressional delegation as of May 2024.
| Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Florida | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Total |
| Democratic | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Republican | 2 | 20 | 22 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 28 | 30 |
State executive
The table below displays the officeholders in Florida's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.
| State executive officials in Florida, May 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Office | Officeholder |
| Governor | |
| Lieutenant Governor | |
| Secretary of State | |
| Attorney General | |
State legislature
Florida State Senate
| Party | As of February 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 12 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | |
Florida House of Representatives
| Party | As of February 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 36 | |
| Republican Party | 84 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 120 | |
Trifecta control
The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.
Florida Party Control: 1992-2024
One year of a Democratic trifecta • Twenty-five years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | I | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | S | S | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Florida in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Florida, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| Florida | U.S. House | Ballot-qualified party | 5,181[7] | $10,440.00 | 4/26/2024 | Source |
| Florida | U.S. House | Unaffiliated | 5,181[8] | $6,960.00 | 4/26/2024 | Source |
See also
- Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Democratic primary)
- Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2024
- United States House elections in Florida, 2024 (August 20 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in Florida, 2024 (August 20 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2024
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2024
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2024
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2024
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ A majority in the U.S. House when there are no vacancies is 218 seats.
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
- ↑ The Florida Senate, "Fla. Stat. § 101.021," accessed November 26, 2025
- ↑ The Florida Senate, "Fla. Stat. § 97.055," accessed November 26, 2025
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
- ↑ Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023
- ↑ Average number of signatures required for all congressional districts. Petition signatures only required in lieu of a filing fee.
- ↑ Average number of signatures required for all congressional districts. Petition signatures only required in lieu of a filing fee.
