A Mamdani-inspired democratic socialist swayed FL unions against a Dem incumbent
Florida’s largest federation of labor unions, the Florida AFL-CIO, has endorsed all of the state’s sitting Democratic members of Congress who are up for reelection — except for Jared Moskowitz.
The move comes after democratic socialist and labor union organizer Oliver Larkin worked to sway delegates at the federation’s annual mid-June endorsement convention against Moskowitz, who has represented parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties since 2023.
During the closed-door Florida AFL-CIO vote, some labor leaders raised concerns Larkin had flagged to them, including about Moskowitz becoming the first Democrat to join the DOGE Caucus in late 2024 — a congressional effort critics see as backing Elon Musk’s mass layoffs of federal workers at the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term — according to Rich Templin, Florida AFL-CIO’s director of politics and public policy.
Moskowitz’ endorsement then failed to capture the necessary two-thirds vote, even though the Broward AFL-CIO had unanimously voted to recommend his statewide endorsement.
Broward AFL-CIO president Andy Madtes said the local branch has since filed a request to a smaller committee that can make endorsements outside of the convention to reverse the decision and back Moskowitz ahead of the Aug. 18 primary. That decision could come as soon as this week.
But Florida AFL-CIO’s initial decision not to endorse Moskowitz, 45 — at the urging of a democratic socialist candidate — comes as the national Democratic Party saw a string of wins by democratic socialist candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the state’s primaries last week. Larkin, 33, pointed to the no-endorsement decision as evidence of momentum for progressive candidates like him, even in solidly red Florida.
“This is validation and proof of concept of what we’ve been campaigning on since the beginning,” Larkin said. “This is central to the crisis within the Democratic Party of not being entirely responsive to the needs of the working class.”
Larkin is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, a political organization that pushes for more progressive government policies than the Democratic Party, but whose candidates typically run under the Democratic Party banner.
With the high name recognition that comes with being an incumbent, Moskowitz still has a much easier path to victory in the Democratic primary than Larkin. And any Democrat will have to win crossover votes from Republicans and sway non-party-affiliated voters in November, after Gov. Ron DeSantis redrew Florida’s 25th District in a way that favors Republicans.
There is now no Florida AFL-CIO endorsed candidate in Florida’s 25th District, where both candidates are running. The coastal district stretches from Palm Beach County down to Miami Beach.
Moskowitz’s campaign pointed to its own polling, a string of local labor endorsements, including from the Broward Teachers Union, and his voting record as evidence of his continued support from labor leaders.
“The momentum behind this campaign speaks for itself: a commanding 32-point lead in the Democratic primary, a 95% pro-labor voting record with the AFL-CIO,” and a string of local labor endorsements, a spokesperson for the Moskowitz campaign said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
But Tessa Barber, a labor organizer who attended the Florida AFL-CIO endorsement convention, said she hopes the decision communicates a message to Democrats like Moskowitz that the backing of labor organizers is not a given — even in Florida races where Democrats are on their back foot.
“The lack of endorsement is not so much a snub as maybe it is a wake-up call to say that, especially here in Florida, workers are struggling and the status quo, what we have right now, it’s not enough,” said Barber, the president of the University of South Florida’s graduate employee union, Graduate Assistants United.
The only one not endorsed
All the other sitting Democratic members of Congress running for reelection received the union federation’s statewide endorsement during the annual convention, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who is running in the historically Black 20th District against the recently resigned congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. The group also endorsed one Republican in Florida’s congressional races: Miami Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart.
The symbolic initial rejection of Moskowitz came after Larkin had been lobbying labor union leaders against him. Larkin’s campaign produced a five-page brief that was distributed to leaders and reviewed by the Herald detailing all of the ways he sees Moskowitz as “the Democrat the far right can count on.” Moskowitz is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ former emergency management director.
Larkin told the Herald he spent 10 hours on his feet at the convention introducing himself to delegates and making the case against his opponent, accusing him of lending DOGE layoffs “bipartisan credibility.”
He said Moskowitz’ participation in the caucus signals that he was “trying to find this bipartisanship with the world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk, who spent $275 million to elect Donald Trump. Democrats don’t want to see their representatives reaching across the aisle to work with the billionaire class.”
Madtes, the Broward AFL-CIO president, said he was shocked Moskowitz didn’t get the endorsement at the statewide convention and said he believes labor leaders are unified behind Moskowitz in Broward County. He viewed Moskowitz’s role on the DOGE Caucus — which never actually met — as an effort by the congressman to be a voice for workers amid sweeping federal layoffs.
Broward Teachers Union president Anna Fusco said she was “absolutely bothered” that Moskowitz didn’t get the statewide endorsement, saying that “misinformation” was passed around by Larkin. She was in the closed-door meeting where the vote took place and said Moskowitz barely missed the two-thirds threshold for endorsement, but that she saw the decision as a delay for additional discussion, not a rejection of Moskowitz.
Democratic socialism in Florida
The Democratic Socialists of America, the organization Larkin is a member of, has been at odds with establishment Democrats in recent weeks, especially after their candidates’ success in Democratic primaries in New York.
Former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison posted on social media last week, “If you hate the Democratic Party, then please don’t run for our nomination. Don’t use our resources. Don’t rely on our volunteers. Don’t use our infrastructure.”
While there isn’t a universal definition for democratic socialism, the movement generally believes that direct government actions, like universal healthcare and taxing the wealthy, should be taken to address everyday Americans’ problems. The Democratic Socialists of America describes it as a system that prioritizes the needs of ordinary people while rejecting authoritarianism. Larkin said he’s running on Medicare for all, a $25 federal minimum wage, expanding Social Security and taxing billionaires.
Larkin has regularly compared himself to Mamdani, writing in January on X, “In 2025, New Yorkers elected a 34 year old democratic socialist as mayor. In 2026, South Floridians will elect a 34 year old democratic socialist to Congress.”
On Monday, Larkin announced receiving an endorsement from SEIU Florida Public Services Union, which represents 20,000 workers in eight counties, including Palm Beach.
In Florida — if the leading candidates are any indication — the party’s strategy has been to move toward the right, not toward the democratic socialist left. Centrist Democrats like gubernatorial candidate and former Republican Congressman David Jolly and U.S. Senate candidate Alexander Vindman will likely be leading the Democratic ticket in November.
Democrats have a massive voter registration disadvantage compared to Republicans. More than a quarter of Florida voters are not affiliated with any party, so the Florida Democratic Party is counting on bringing those voters, as well as crossover Republicans, to their side this election cycle.
Florida’s 25th District, where Moskowitz and Larkin are running for the Democratic nomination, could become one of the key seats in Florida in determining whether Democrats regain control of the U.S. House in November.
Larkin said democratic socialists are a boon, not a hindrance, to the Democratic Party when it comes to attracting young voters who are struggling to make ends meet in states with closed primaries like Florida. “The Democratic Party needs the Democratic Socialists of America to succeed long term,” he said.
“I just want to see the Democratic Party embrace the possibility of doing big things for this country and fighting for bold universal policies,” Larkin said. “The DSA is creating a positive pressure that is going to move the Democratic Party in a more progressive direction, that is going to more effectively respond to the needs of working people and young people.”
Barber, the labor organizer who attended the Florida AFL-CIO convention, said the lack of endorsement for Moskowitz points to the fact that reaching Florida voters is going to be about more than candidates’ political party.
“Especially for workers right now, it’s not a partisan issue, I think is a big takeaway here,” she said. “There’s not an agenda to just elect Democratic candidates. It’s about people that will support labor and put forward policies that support workers.”
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