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Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2026

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← 2024
Florida's 23rd Congressional District
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General election
Election details
Filing deadline: April 24, 2026
Primary: August 18, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Florida

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Lean Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Lean Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Florida's 23rd Congressional District
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Florida elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

All U.S. House districts, including the 23rd Congressional District of Florida, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Florida District 23

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 23 on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Jared Evan Moskowitz
Jared Evan Moskowitz (D)
Image of Oliver Larkin
Oliver Larkin (D) Candidate Connection
Image of Darlene Cerezo Swaffar
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar (R)
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jared Gurfein (R)
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Raven Harrison (R)
Image of Joe Kaufman
Joe Kaufman (R)
Image of George Moraitis
George Moraitis (R)
Image of Rafael Ortiz
Rafael Ortiz (R)

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

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.

Oliver Larkin

Image of Oliver Larkin

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "My name is Oliver Larkin. I've spent a decade as a Democratic campaign staffer and strategist, beginning as an organizer for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. I helped unionize his digital firm with the NewsGuild-CWA in 2018, setting a new labor standard for the Democratic campaign industry, and have spent years working behind the scenes to help lead digital strategy for progressive groups like Our Revolution and national Democrats. I will not accept any corporate PAC donations on this campaign — it will be people-powered and grassroots-funded. As a former field organizer, I believe in maintaining a robust campaign field program and grassroots organizing presence across the district. Accessibility and in-person campaigning will be centerpieces of our campaign strategy to rebuild trust and confidence in the Democratic Party in the 23rd district. My family moved to Fort Lauderdale when I was 4 years old in 1996, where I grew up and went to school. I graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire in 2011, and received my bachelor's degree in English with a minor in History and certificate in Creative Writing from Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where I played on the football team. I am a South Florida sports fanatic and PADI-certified open water scuba diver. My wife Sandra and I got married in 2022. We enjoy beach days, live concerts, drag shows, Disney trips, and spending time with our cat, Luna."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

MEDICARE FOR ALL The United States is the highest-income country on earth not to guarantee health care as a right, yet we spend the highest per capita of any country. We can drastically lower the cost of health care by expanding Medicare to cover everyone, with no premiums, deductibles, or co-pays, and the program expanded to cover vision, hearing, and dental. With a Medicare for All program, we must also cap the cost of prescription drugs by negotiating with the drug companies, or having Medicare directly produce generic prescriptions at-cost. Private health insurance companies' profits exist in the margin of denied care. With Medicare for All, people will seek cheaper, preventative forms of health care and live happier, longer lives.

$25 MINIMUM WAGE By the next Congress' swearing-in in 2027, it will have been 20 years since George W. Bush signed the last legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. This is the longest period in U.S. history at a time of an extreme cost-of-living and affordability crisis and criticism of Democrats for lacking an economic message and all-time polling lows among the party base. One job should be enough with a living wage indexed to inflation. Approximately 6-in-10 Americans make less than $25 and cannot afford a $1,000 emergency expense. It's time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage — no loopholes to get away with underpaying ADA, minors under 18, incarcerated workers, or the tipped minimum of $2.13.

DEMOCRACY REFORM We need to fight for new congressional, presidential, and judicial codes of ethics to fight corruption, including bans on congressional stock trading. We need to abolish the Electoral College and Senate filibuster, overturn Citizens United, and pass the For the People and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Acts, statehood for DC, and self-determination for Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. We should expand the size of the House and increase representation with the Census. National ranked choice voting legislation will permit the formation of new political alliances and parties, and encourage more cross-party collaboration in campaigning and governing. It is time to rectify the slave state compromises in our Constitution.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Florida

Election information in Florida: Nov. 3, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Oct. 5, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 5, 2026
  • Online: Oct. 5, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: Oct. 22, 2026
  • By mail: Received by Oct. 22, 2026
  • Online: Oct. 22, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: Nov. 3, 2026
  • By mail: Received by Nov. 3, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 24, 2026 to Oct. 31, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (ET/CT)


Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Oliver Larkin (D)

MEDICARE FOR ALL

The United States is the highest-income country on earth not to guarantee health care as a right, yet we spend the highest per capita of any country. We can drastically lower the cost of health care by expanding Medicare to cover everyone, with no premiums, deductibles, or co-pays, and the program expanded to cover vision, hearing, and dental. With a Medicare for All program, we must also cap the cost of prescription drugs by negotiating with the drug companies, or having Medicare directly produce generic prescriptions at-cost. Private health insurance companies' profits exist in the margin of denied care. With Medicare for All, people will seek cheaper, preventative forms of health care and live happier, longer lives.

$25 MINIMUM WAGE By the next Congress' swearing-in in 2027, it will have been 20 years since George W. Bush signed the last legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. This is the longest period in U.S. history at a time of an extreme cost-of-living and affordability crisis and criticism of Democrats for lacking an economic message and all-time polling lows among the party base. One job should be enough with a living wage indexed to inflation. Approximately 6-in-10 Americans make less than $25 and cannot afford a $1,000 emergency expense. It's time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage — no loopholes to get away with underpaying ADA, minors under 18, incarcerated workers, or the tipped minimum of $2.13.

DEMOCRACY REFORM

We need to fight for new congressional, presidential, and judicial codes of ethics to fight corruption, including bans on congressional stock trading. We need to abolish the Electoral College and Senate filibuster, overturn Citizens United, and pass the For the People and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Acts, statehood for DC, and self-determination for Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. We should expand the size of the House and increase representation with the Census. National ranked choice voting legislation will permit the formation of new political alliances and parties, and encourage more cross-party collaboration in campaigning and governing. It is time to rectify the slave state compromises in our Constitution.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I am personally fascinated by the prospects of a Green New Deal and environmental restoration on a national scale. The 23rd District has more miles of navigable waterways than anywhere in the country. Our environment is our economy in South Florida. I want to explore the possibilities of comprehensive Everglades, Florida Bay, and coral reef restoration projects in tandem with climate resilience and storm preparedness for South Florida's future in a time of worsening extreme weather from human-caused climate change. We can reimagine South Florida with rapid public transportation, cooler cities and neighborhoods with urban parks and tree canopy, and locally-sourced fresh produce from urban farms. The possibilities make me optimistic.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I have looked up to Senator Bernie Sanders for the past decade. He gave me the language to describe my political philosophy, and participating in his 2016 presidential campaign gave me a political orientation that I have carried with me for the decade since. In the House currently, I look up to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez for her courage at challenging an established member of the House Democratic leadership as a 27-year old bartender and first-time candidate in 2018. I have been enormously inspired by Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani's Democratic primary victory in the 2025 New York City mayoral election. These latter two are examples of millennials whose politics are closely aligned with my own who I believe are capable of reinvigorating the Democratic Party with younger generations of people if we embrace their progressive styles of leadership and governance. That is the style I would emulate as a member of Congress.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich released a documentary film titled Inequality for All that I watched for the first time in the spring of 2015. It was around the time that I was paying attention to Bernie Sanders' newly-launched presidential campaign and the economic philosophy made complete sense with where I was in my life — graduating from college with a mountain of debt and working as a restaurant line cook for $7.25 an hour while applying online for the start of my post-college career. The film, combined with the decades of Senator Sanders' floor speeches, motivated me enough to drive to New Hampshire and begin volunteering for the Bernie 2016 campaign in July 2015.

In an increasingly financialized economy with widening income and wealth inequality, we need to restore the top marginal tax rates on the wealthy and large corporations, raise the minimum wage to a living wage, guarantee health care as a right, make public colleges and universities tuition free, and expand our investments in the American people with affordable housing, free childcare, expanding Social Security, paid family and medical leave, and free, clean energy rapid public transportation infrastructure, among other progressive policies.

I believe that these policies will contribute to a more competitive economy where monopolies cede ground to a boom of small businesses and entrepreneurs with the freedom and liberty to pursue their American Dream with healthcare, education, and the investments made in every family that each one of us deserves.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Integrity, character, and consistency are essential characteristics. They are demonstrative of a belief system that grounds an elected official's governing philosophy, which issues they will prioritize while in office, and important stances they will take. Integrity and character from an elected official require abstaining from any perceived conflicts of interest that could be interpreted as a corrupting influence. One such example of a conflict of interest would be making congressional stock trades while voting on legislation that could affect individual stock prices and the stock market. I am more skeptical of elected officials with vested financial interests in matters over which they have some governing influence.

I believe every elected official's most important principle must be the belief in upholding and furthering the civil rights and general wellbeing of those whom the official has been elected to represent or govern. That goes especially for this current moment of rising far-right authoritarianism from the Trump administration enabled by the federal judiciary, Republican congressional majorities, and state executives and legislatures. Our elected officials must defend LGBTQIA+ rights, voting rights, the right to protest and assembly, free speech, habeas corpus, immigrant rights, and fight to win back the right to an abortion nationwide — going further than Roe v. Wade to remove all bans on reproductive freedom and access to care.

Republicans are banning forms of speech, banning books, restricting access to public accommodations, restricting voting rights, overturning existing frameworks for legal residency to exacerbate an immigration crisis, and building mass detention and deportation camps that are eerily reminiscent of concentration camps. This is a moral moment and we need representatives with the moral clarity it demands.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I am a relentlessly hard worker. In Congress, there are endless opportunities to introduce or cosponsor legislation, and unlike our current representative, I would actually take advantage of such opportunities, bringing novel ideas to the national conversation.

My perspective as campaign staffer and union organizer would bring a much-needed viewpoint to the congressional conversation around campaign finance reform, data privacy, labor organizing, and Big Tech as it relates to the mechanics of modern campaigns. At a time of exponentially-increasing technological advancement, we need members of Congress who are technologically adept and savvy enough to have a keen legislative focus.

As a former college student-athlete on the football team and candidate to be Florida's first millennial congressman, I would also bring a valuable perspective to represent cohorts of the U.S. population who don't often have a voice on Capitol Hill — including more than half-a-million collegiate athletes and young people who increasingly don't identify with either political party.

I believe that I can help build an electoral bridge for a left-liberal coalition to not just resist the Trump administration, but build durable majorities in Congress to enact democratic reforms and pass popular progressive policies.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Florida's member of Congress elected to represent the 23rd district has a responsibility to be effective and accessible during their term in office. Our current representative's deficiency in both categories motivated my campaign for office.

On effectiveness, our current representative was rated by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University as Florida's Least Effective Democrat in Congress. From January 2023 to March 2025, he missed 5.1% of roll call votes, more than two-and-a-half times the 1.9% of votes missed in Congress by the average House member, and sponsored just 11 bills, none of them significant or making it to committee. We should have a much greater expectation for the responsibilities taken on by our representative in Congress, both in number of bills sponsored, introduced, and advanced through committee and into law, as well as simply showing up for work and voting as a core function of the U.S. representative role they are elected to do.

On accessibility, our incumbent representative has yet to hold a single public town hall in the 23rd district since Trump returned to office. People across Broward and Palm Beach County are scared — federal government workers and USAID contractors are losing their jobs, people are losing their Medicaid, ICE is terrorizing immigrants and kidnapping innocent people off the streets, and millions of students are losing school meals. To fail to show up for our community in this moment is a dereliction of duty for any member of Congress. Each member of Congress should have a regular schedule of public, in-person town hall-style meetings shared with the public beforehand to solicit greater civic engagement in the democratic process and reflect the priorities of the 23rd district's constituents in Washington.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

South Florida is facing an existential threat from climate change. When Rep. Ocasio-Cortez recorded her "Message from the Future" about the Green New Deal, she conceded that Miami and much of South Florida could not be saved in time. It was an extremely emotional and upsetting prediction that I had a hard time digesting. I will commit the rest of my life in the House of Representatives to enacting environmental, clean energy, and infrastructure policies to save South Florida, restore and preserve our natural environment, and save our communities from displacement. The very survival of our coastal communities depends on it.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I consciously remember going to 3rd grade the morning of September 11, 2001 at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale. I was nine years old. I remember all of our 3rd grade classes being moved to the Spanish class building where we waited for our parents to pick us up and bring us home. When I got back home my mom asked me to draw a card for her younger brother, my Uncle Eugene that day because he'd had a bad day at work. He had managed to escape from the 63rd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City and survive.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I was an assistant to the marine technicians in the service garage of the Lauderdale Marina in Fort Lauderdale the summer that I turned 18. It was a full-time 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. job Monday to Friday for the next two summers, holding oil pans underneath four-stroke outboard motors, hauling trash, cleaning, and marine testing customers' boats after servicing.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Michael Grunwald does such an exceptional job in The Swamp telling the story of Florida's history, from the natural environment to its people, culture, and history. He really illustrates a vision of Florida's natural habitat that provides a baseline for a federal American Rewilding Act that could include initiatives like a contiguous Florida Wildlife Corridor for megafauna and keystone species like the black bear and Florida panther.

As far as fiction is concerned, Gabriel García Márquez's 100 Years of Solitude is a masterpiece. I'm working my way through the Spanish language Netflix adaptation now.

As a kid, I read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series cover to cover multiple times. I adored those books.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Indiana Jones
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Avalanche by Migos. Sometimes I just hear that first baseline from their sample of Papa Was a Rollin' Stone by The Temptations and play it back in my head. My mom always played Motown music for us in the house growing up, so I knew about the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and on and on from grade school. I love those old samples and original tracks so much. I am big on listening to entire albums front to back too, and since this is the first track on Culture III, it's the one I listen to the most. We have lost far, far, far too many people like Takeoff to acts of gun violence. I will work every day in Congress to keep our communities safe.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I did not plan to go into politics. I majored in English and got a certificate in Creative Writing in college. I was moved by conscience at a defining moment of my life the day I turned 23 on July 4, 2015 to reach out to Bernie Sanders' New Hampshire political director to ask how I could help with his campaign. I thought that maybe I would volunteer and catch on with an internship for 3 or 6 months before getting a job in corporate retail advertising or something like that. The Bernie campaign grew to be so much greater than any of us expected that I felt an obligation to do the next right thing after that. And the next right thing. And the next right thing. That is what I have been doing for the last 10 years. It has not always been easy. Often it has not. It has not always been clear, projected, or planned. I have often wondered what I owe to my family that provided me with so much opportunity, to the elite institutions that educated me, to the country whose birthday I share and whose prosperity I have enjoyed — what do I owe to my country? The answer is everything. Everything I can imagine. I grew up wanting to be a writer. But if I can share a lesson I've learned in these past 10 years it is that all of us are conscious actors in our nation's history. Right now, in its most precipitous domestic era since the Civil War, we all have a responsibility to act. I have been moved by conscience to do this for the people, the community, and the country I love, and I will not be dissuaded.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

The U.S. House of Representatives is the most representative of the federal government's institutions. The Senate did not elect its members by popular vote until the 20th century, and the president is elected indirectly by the Electoral College. The House possesses the greatest diversity of membership and perspectives for governance of the nation. In that sense, it is a proving ground for new political alliances and ideas to solve issues with scalable federal solutions.

The House is also the body tasked with investigating and voting on Articles of Impeachment introduced against a sitting member of the executive or judicial branches, acting as a kind of grand jury tasked with indicting an official and referring them for trial in the Senate.

Congress also carries the power of the purse. All taxing and spending legislation originates in the House of Representatives. In this respect, U.S. House members have extraordinary fiscal oversight over the nation's finances, including the federal deficit and debt, federal tax revenue, and spending allocations.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Experience matters, and the particular kind of experience matters. A long record in government office can bring with it a disastrous track record, so experience in office is not an end unto itself. Organizing and campaign strategy roles provide real perspective that is often lacking in government but critical to understanding how it functions in relation with today's perpetual campaign cycle. The word for this body is "representative," and a representative sample of the U.S. population would not be dominated entirely by people who have held previous office or worked in politics.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Small-d democratic legitimacy in the face of a minoritarian Senate body, a gerrymandered House of Representatives and state legislatures, restricted voting and civil rights, heightening Electoral College contradictions, a corrupt campaign finance system where billionaires purchase elections, the worst income and wealth inequality in American history, the ongoing man-made Holocene extinction event and global climate change, reactionary fascism and authoritarianism, especially with relation to immigration and foreign policy, and the collapsed belief in the two-party system.

2026 marks the 250-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is time to renew our democratic commitments to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by undertaking a series of constitutional and democratic reforms to make the United States government more reflective of and responsive to the American people it serves.

Donald Trump has conditioned the American people and our political system to be driven increasingly by anger, hatred, prejudice, xenophobia, misogyny, racism, and fear. We see the harm caused in the economic numbers, the amount of deportations, the degrees Celsius the global temperature increases, but there are qualitative measurements to life in the United States today as well. The U.S. ranked 24th in the 2025 World Happiness Report — our lowest ranking ever. Trump's regressive, reactionary method of politics is not just economically, environmentally, and democratically destructive. It is morally destructive as well, and that depression in spirit and patriotism produces a cynicism that he has manipulated to turn the American people against one another. Others will attempt to demagogue in the manner he has. We will need leaders who espouse a hopeful, optimistic vision for the country that also plainly deals with the contradictions, paradoxes, and challenges that will be obstacles for us to overcome in achieving that vision.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Yes, it's an appropriate amount of time to legislate and be held democratically accountable to one's constituents. I do think with comprehensive campaign finance reform that the amount of time spent legislating in Washington could be increased with shorter campaign seasons.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I believe in instituting 18-year term limits for justices of the Supreme Court and any seat on the bench within the federal judiciary. This is a necessary step to depoliticize the courts and increase democratic accountability over this co-equal branch of the federal government. I am not in favor of establishing term limits over the United States Congress. While I believe the Democratic Party has harmed its standing with a counterproductive deferral to seniority politics and that ineffective incumbent members of Congress should be primaried, I believe that legislative experience is a critical perspective to include in Congress and the House Democratic Caucus. I have concerns that establishing new congressional term limits would engender more of a revolving door from Congress to the corporate lobby absent a more comprehensive package of reforms.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is an inspiration of mine, along with U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Justice Democrats, and former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I heard one constituent at an Indivisible town hall earlier this year criticize our member of Congress for voting with Republicans to pass the Trump administration's immigration law that empowered ICE while this resident is married to an immigrant. He spoke in front of a crowd of 450 people and called for someone to run in the Democratic primary against our representative. That was a big inspiration for me to run.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Any line Louise Belcher delivers in Bob's Burgers.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I believe that by the nature of the U.S. House of Representatives, compromise is necessary in a body that routinely passes fewer and fewer pieces of legislation each Congress. There just aren't as many pieces of legislation moved through committee to a vote on the House floor to not have it packaged in with some other package of bills. The desirability of such a system is a more complicated question. While I believe it is good for people of opposing parties to come together in agreement on a course of action for bipartisan areas of concern, I find that Congress' glacial legislative pace and dearth of bills moved to the other chamber incentivizes a more cynical system of legislative "poison pill" votes. If we have a higher volume of smaller, less complicated bills moving to the House floor, I believe that would open up infinitely more room for bipartisan areas of compromise on discrete, specific areas of interest that would serve more constituents, the American people, and improve the public perception of Congress for becoming a more effective and representative body. I do believe this system would be brought about more effectively in a system of ranked choice voting, with an expanded House membership that diffuses the individual attention or voting power of single members to demagogue over issues as we have seen with recent narrowly-divided House and Senate majorities.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I believe we need to restore the top marginal tax rates on individuals and corporations and pursue the enactment of FDR's proposed Economic Bill of Rights.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

The United States House of Representatives should audit government agencies, most importantly the Department of Defense to precisely track each dollar of public taxpayer money the government is spending. There is enormous waste, fraud, and abuse in our bloated defense budgets that are an annual cash cow for the military-industrial industry. At a time when we are desperately lacking the investments in domestic American life, Congress should investigate war profiteers and claw back our budget from waging costly foreign wars abroad.
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Blue America PAC
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Oliver Larkin (D)

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Natural Resources Committee Education and Workforce Committee Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Homeland Security Committee
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Oliver Larkin (D)

I believe in a ban on congressional stock trading and a mandatory code of ethics for members of Congress, the federal judiciary, and the executive branch. The broken and corrupt campaign finance regime imposed by the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC ruling has rendered a great deal of financial and transparency and government accountability difficult to parse or completely opaque. We need to close the revolving door between Congress and the corporate lobby, including for both members of Congress and their staffs. I also believe in a Congressional Workers Union that raises the wages and standards of living for Hill staffers and staff in the district. Congressional wages are unlivable for many young staffers, which excludes those whose families cannot afford to subsidize their wages or housing and perpetuates an exclusionary level of access to working in government. The same is true for members of Congress — a difficult but necessary conversation, especially for younger, renting, and working class candidates and representatives, at a time when congressional salaries have dropped by 31 percent in real purchasing power since members' last raise and they are required to maintain two residencies during a housing shortage and affordability crisis. I believe that Donald Trump should be impeached for violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution with his repeated solicitations of bribery with cryptocurrencies since the start of his second presidential administration. I also believe a Democratic House majority following the 2026 midterms must initiate a comprehensive oversight investigation of the activities of Elon Musk and DOGE and the long term damage their breaches of national security infrastructure may have caused to the wellbeing of the American people or United States government.


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Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Jared Evan Moskowitz Democratic Party $892,373 $468,008 $773,652 As of September 30, 2025
Oliver Larkin Democratic Party $100,845 $19,669 $81,176 As of September 30, 2025
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar Republican Party $6,250 $6,432 $0 As of July 22, 2025
Jared Gurfein Republican Party $27,633 $13,461 $14,172 As of September 30, 2025
Raven Harrison Republican Party $564,810 $337,207 $227,603 As of September 30, 2025
Joe Kaufman Republican Party $300,465 $4,497 $358,757 As of September 30, 2025
George Moraitis Republican Party $504,727 $99,989 $404,738 As of September 30, 2025
Rafael Ortiz Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[1]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[2][3][4]

Race ratings: Florida's 23rd Congressional District election, 2026
Race trackerRace ratings
12/23/202512/16/202512/9/202512/2/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy WalterLean DemocraticLean DemocraticLean DemocraticLean Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The HillPendingPendingPendingPending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesLean DemocraticLean DemocraticLean DemocraticLean Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallLean DemocraticLean DemocraticLean DemocraticLean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Florida in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Florida, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Florida U.S. House Ballot-qualified party 1% of the registered voters in the geographical area of candidacy $10,440 4/24/2026 Source
Florida U.S. House Unaffiliated 1% of the registered voters in the geographical area of candidacy $6,960 4/24/2026 Source


District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 23

Incumbent Jared Evan Moskowitz (D) defeated Joe Kaufman (R) in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 23 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jared Evan Moskowitz
Jared Evan Moskowitz (D)
 
52.4
 
196,311
Image of Joe Kaufman
Joe Kaufman (R)  Candidate Connection
 
47.6
 
178,006

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 374,317
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for August 20, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Jared Evan Moskowitz (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 23 without appearing on the ballot.

Republican primary

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
✔
Image of Joe Kaufman
Joe Kaufman  Candidate Connection
 
35.4
 
9,503
Image of Robert Weinroth
Robert Weinroth  Candidate Connection
 
20.6
 
5,524
Image of Darlene Cerezo Swaffar
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar  Candidate Connection
 
19.1
 
5,118
Image of Carla Spalding
Carla Spalding
 
10.6
 
2,844
Image of Gary Barve
Gary Barve
 
7.2
 
1,923
Image of Joe Thelusca
Joe Thelusca  Candidate Connection
 
7.2
 
1,923

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 26,835
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 23

Jared Evan Moskowitz (D) defeated Joe Budd (R), Christine Scott (No Party Affiliation), and Mark Napier (No Party Affiliation) in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 23 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jared Evan Moskowitz
Jared Evan Moskowitz (D)  Candidate Connection
 
51.6
 
143,951
Image of Joe Budd
Joe Budd (R)  Candidate Connection
 
46.8
 
130,681
Image of Christine Scott
Christine Scott (No Party Affiliation)  Candidate Connection
 
1.1
 
3,079
Image of Mark Napier
Mark Napier (No Party Affiliation)  Candidate Connection
 
0.5
 
1,338

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 279,049
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 23

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 23 on August 23, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jared Evan Moskowitz
Jared Evan Moskowitz  Candidate Connection
 
61.1
 
38,822
Image of Ben Sorensen
Ben Sorensen  Candidate Connection
 
20.5
 
13,012
Image of Hava Holzhauer
Hava Holzhauer  Candidate Connection
 
8.3
 
5,276
Image of Allen Ellison
Allen Ellison
 
6.2
 
3,960
Image of W. Michael Trout
W. Michael Trout
 
2.2
 
1,390
Image of Michaelangelo Hamilton
Michaelangelo Hamilton  Candidate Connection
 
1.7
 
1,064

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 63,524
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Republican primary

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 23, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joe Budd
Joe Budd  Candidate Connection
 
37.6
 
12,592
Image of James Pruden
James Pruden  Candidate Connection
 
22.1
 
7,399
Image of Darlene Cerezo Swaffar
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar  Candidate Connection
 
11.6
 
3,872
Image of Christy McLaughlin
Christy McLaughlin  Candidate Connection
 
11.4
 
3,832
Image of Steve Chess
Steve Chess  Candidate Connection
 
8.5
 
2,840
Image of Ira Weinstein
Ira Weinstein  Candidate Connection
 
6.9
 
2,297
Image of Myles Perrone
Myles Perrone
 
1.9
 
639

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 33,471
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 23

Incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) defeated Carla Spalding (R), Jeff Olson (R), and D.B. Fugate (R) in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 23 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)
 
58.2
 
221,239
Image of Carla Spalding
Carla Spalding (R)  Candidate Connection
 
41.8
 
158,874
Image of Jeff Olson
Jeff Olson (R) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
46
Image of D.B. Fugate
D.B. Fugate (R) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
37

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 380,196
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 23

Incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) defeated Jen Perelman (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 23 on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
 
72.0
 
55,729
Image of Jen Perelman
Jen Perelman  Candidate Connection
 
28.0
 
21,631

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 77,360
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 23

Carla Spalding (R) defeated Michael Kroske (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 23 on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Carla Spalding
Carla Spalding  Candidate Connection
 
51.3
 
12,751
Image of Michael Kroske
Michael Kroske  Candidate Connection
 
48.7
 
12,116

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 24,867
Candidate Connection = 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

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 2026 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 is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_fl_congressional_district_023.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026
Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Florida's 23rd the 192nd most Democratic district nationally.[5]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Florida's 23rd Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
51.0% 49.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Florida, 2024

Florida presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 17 Democratic wins
  • 15 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 2024
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 R
See also: Party control of Florida state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Florida's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

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 October 2025.

State executive officials in Florida, October 2025
Office Officeholder
Governor Republican Party Ron DeSantis
Lieutenant Governor Republican Party Jay Collins
Secretary of State Republican Party Cord Byrd
Attorney General Republican Party James Uthmeier

State legislature

Florida State Senate

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 11
     Republican Party 26
     Other 1
     Vacancies 2
Total 40

Florida House of Representatives

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 32
     Republican Party 86
     Other 0
     Vacancies 2
Total 120

Trifecta control

Florida Party Control: 1992-2025
One year of a Democratic trifecta  •  Twenty-six 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 25
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 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 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 R

See also

Florida 2026 primaries 2026 U.S. Congress elections
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Florida congressional delegation
Voting in Florida
Florida elections:
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Democratic primary battlegrounds
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U.S. Senate Democratic primaries
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Special elections
Ballot access

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  2. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  3. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  4. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  5. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025


Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Ashley Moody (R)
Rick Scott (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Neal Dunn (R)
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Anna Luna (R)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
Republican Party (22)
Democratic Party (8)


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