BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Jared Moskowitz and Ben Sorensen were among the Democrats vying for the seat in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.
Also running in the race were Allen Ellison, Michelangelo Hamilton, Hava Holzhauer and W. Michael Trout.
In the end, Moskowitz decidedly came out on top.
Moskowitz said he owes this win in large part to his father, who passed away earlier this year.
He was favored to win, with a long list of endorsements that included Hillary Clinton and Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Senior High School.
Moskowitz’s opponents criticized him for his history with Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who appointed him as the state’s Director of Emergency Management and to his current role as a Broward County Commissioner.
Speaking to Local 10 News, Moskowitz outlined some of the things he hopes to accomplish as a lawmaker.
“It’s protecting democracy, it’s fighting gun violence, it’s trying to pass more gun violence prevention laws, it’s Roe v. Wade and women’s rights to choose,” he said. “What concerns me the most is democracy and the dysfunction of Washington and Congress. Every day we see more language more division and I’m worried that at some point we’re going to be able to get back to being able to work together.”
Moskowitz won with over 60 percent of the vote over Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Ben Sorensen, who got 20 percent of the vote.
The district covers much of northern Broward, east to the coast, and the southern part of Palm Beach County.
There was no incumbent running in the race because Rep. Ted Deutch was not seeking re-election.
Deutch, who was first elected to Congress in 2010, is set to become the CEO of the American Jewish Committee later this year.
Moskowitz lives in Parkland and is a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas Senior High School.
Sorensen is a current Fort Lauderdale city commissioner, a seat he has filled for the past four years. He lives in Fort Lauderdale and is a Presbyterian minister.
“Whatever side you’re on, stay engaged,” Sorensen said. “We need you. We’re a better community and a better state because of it…Keep fighting for our democratic ideals, don’t give up on this vision and for this passion that we all have for equality and justice and the more we all keep doing that the better off we’re all going to be.”
Holzhauer, who lives in Palm Beach County, is a former assistant state attorney and former director of Florida’s Anti-Defamation League.
Moskowitz will now face off against Republican Joe Budd in November.
VIEW LIVE RESULTS AS THEY COME IN BELOW:
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