He first learned about Larkin online. Smailis has gone out canvassing, which is knocking on doors of registered Democrats to pitch his candidate, and expects to do more plus phone banking in the lead-up to the Aug. 18 primary.<\/p>\n
A lifelong Floridian, Smailis, 37, considers himself \u201cvery tapped in politically\u201d but hasn\u2019t ever canvassed for a candidate before. \u201cIt feels good to actually put yourself out there and fight for something you actually believe in,\u201d he said, explaining he wants to change Florida. \u201cIt\u2019s been kind of just overwhelmingly red and Republican, so this is the movement I can get myself behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, like other Larkin supporters, he\u2019s turned off by what he\u2019s heard about the congressman. \u201cI\u2019m not a big fan of Moskowitz,\u201d Smailis said. \u201cHe\u2019s a little too close to (Republican Gov. Ron) DeSantis for me. He\u2019s a little too conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who is Larkin?<\/p>\n
In news interviews, town hall appearances and candidate forums, Larkin sells himself as a candidate who can change the status quo.<\/p>\n
Winning, he said, \u201ccould change the course of American politics\u201d and show \u201cyou can stand on both progressive values and win in any district in the country. It will send shock waves across the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larkin, 34, who in June changed his registration to vote from Broward to Palm Beach County, has lived in South Florida for essentially his entire life. He said his family moved to Fort Lauderdale when he was 4.<\/p>\n
His upbringing doesn\u2019t immediately conjure up the image of \u201cdemocratic socialist.\u201d Larkin attended the exclusive Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale through ninth grade and finished high school at the elite Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. Larkin has a bachelor\u2019s degree from Sewanee: The University of the South, where he majored in English, minored in history, and received a certificate in creative writing.<\/p>\n
After graduating from college with student loan debt in 2015, he said he was working at a minimum-wage job as a restaurant line cook when he felt inspired by Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who was seeking the Democratic Party\u2019s presidential nomination.<\/p>\n
Larkin quit his job, drove to New Hampshire to volunteer for the Sanders campaign, and said he became a paid staffer in six states. \u201cHe got me to see the possibility in a participatory democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, Larkin has been a political organizer and a communication and marketing strategist. At one job, he organized a union.<\/p>\n
In July 2025, he announced he was challenging Moskowitz in a different congressional district, before Republicans who control state government radically changed the contours of most districts in South Florida. After the boundaries changed, Moskowitz and Larkin both switched to the new 25th Congressional District, which includes about half the territory the incumbent congressman has been representing.<\/p>\n
On the issues<\/p>\n
Larkin described some of his positions as \u201cmorality-based policies that I think most people regardless of political party agree with.\u201d Much of his platform includes policies progressives love, centrist Democrats are wary of, and Republicans reject.<\/p>\n
Example: He favors a universal health care system covered by the government, which goes by the name Medicare for All.\u00a0He wants Medicare expanded to vision, hearing, dental, mental health and reproductive health care \u201cwith no premiums, deductibles or copays. Other countries are able to do it. We can do it here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
At public appearances, news interviews and in answers to a questionnaire, Larkin has outlined his views on a range of issues.<\/p>\n
Beyond healthcare, Larkin supports paid family and medical leave, free tuition at public universities, and implementing 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices and expanding the court to 13 justices.<\/p>\n
He also wants a moratorium on construction of new AI data centers due to concerns over water usage and utility rates,\u00a0and supports abolishing ICE, the immigration agency that has become hugely controversial for its enforcement tactics under Trump.<\/p>\n
Larkin supports an end to fossil fuel extraction and production, said he is \u201crather skeptical of nuclear energy,\u201d wants more solar energy, and favors \u201cmore public ownership of utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The candidate supports efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and wants to pass federal laws banning discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and expanding healthcare coverage for transgender individuals. \u201cWhen I think of DEI, I just think of common respect and decency for everyone in our society, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he is elected and Democrats take control of the House, Larkin said he would vote to impeach Trump.<\/p>\n
On Moskowitz<\/p>\n
The campaign isn\u2019t just about motivating volunteers and prospective voters with progressive policy ideas. It also offers a heavy dose of Moskowitz criticism.<\/p>\n
In a TV and streaming ad<\/a> Larkin released Monday, he used some of its 30 seconds to tell viewers that \u201cpoliticians like Jared Moskowitz sold us out just to cash a campaign check\u201d from a political action committee. It also shows a\u00a0video clip of Moskowitz saying \u201cI\u2019m a twice-appointed Ron DeSantis Democrat.\u201d<\/p>\n His central critique is that the congressman votes too often with Republicans, and is too aligned with corporate interests and too accommodating to Israel\u2019s foreign policy interests.<\/p>\n Larkin has repeatedly criticized Moskowitz for voting for the Laken Riley Act. He was the only Florida Democrat, and one of 46 in the House, who voted with the Republican majority in favor of the first bill signed into law by Trump during his second term. It was named after a Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant last year while she was jogging. The law requires detention of undocumented immigrants charged with crimes, including nonviolent burglary, theft or shoplifting.<\/p>\n Larkin repeatedly chides Moskowitz for what he says is an inadequate presence in the district.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s he at? Where\u2019s our congressman?\u201d he asked Monday at an event held by the Black Democratic caucuses of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. \u201cI went on Fox News last week thinking I might find him there because he seems more comfortable on Fox News than he is in the 25th District.\u201d<\/p>\n Moskowitz won\u2019t share a venue with Larkin \u2014 even though it gives the challenger a talking-point to accuse Moskowitz of ducking debates. The Moskowitz camp asserts it would be wrong to give a platform to someone who has some prominent antisemitic supporters. Larkin said he doesn\u2019t tolerate antisemitism in his campaign.<\/p>\n Moskowitz is treating Larkin as more of an annoyance than a significant threat, but isn\u2019t completely ignoring him. Though Moskowitz is holding onto most of his campaign money for an expected bruising fall campaign \u2014 national Republicans and Democrats have targeted the district \u2014 he is advertising.<\/p>\n In one of the spots<\/a>, he highlights his votes against Trump\u2019s most controversial policies and depicts himself as an effective fighter who will \u201chit back.\u201d In another<\/a>, the narrator explains, \u201cMoskowitz isn\u2019t just a Democrat who fights, he\u2019s a Democrat who wins.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Florida sent me to Washington to fight for them and get things done,\u201d he said in a written statement Wednesday. \u201cFrom making schools safer after Parkland to standing up to a corrupt administration in Washington, I\u2019ve always believed this job is about delivering results for the people you represent. I\u2019m going to keep fighting for South Florida every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n Larkin\u2019s central criticism, a willingness to work with Republicans, has been a Moskowitz selling point, and allowed him to score some legislative achievements during his political career. \u201cI have never hesitated to work with anyone across the aisle if I think it\u2019ll improve the lives of my constituents,\u201d he said when announcing he\u2019d run for reelection.<\/p>\n Before he was elected to Congress in 2022, Moskowitz was a state representative and a Parkland city commissioner. He was DeSantis\u2019 first state emergency management director and the governor later appointed him to fill a vacancy on the Broward County Commission.<\/p>\n Democratic socialists have had some headline-grabbing recent primary victories in New York and Colorado, and Democratic Socialists of America posted on social media that the Larkin-Moskowitz contest was next on their agenda. \u201cThe movement moves from New York to Colorado to FLORIDA!\u201d<\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tfl-l-local-representatives-05_218271940.jpg\")
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is seeking a third term in the South Florida 25th Congressional District. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nMoskowitz campaign<\/p>\n![\"Congressional](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TFL-L-oliver-larkin-town-hall-02.jpeg\")
Congressional candidate Oliver Larkin, a democratic socialist running against U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz for the 2026 Democratic nomination in South Florida’s 25th Congressional meeting, holds a town hall meeting at MAD Arts in Dania Beach on July 23, 2026. (Anthony Man\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nWill it sell in Florida?<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TFL-L-25th-congressional-district-2026-01.jpg\")
The 25th Congressional District, created in the 2026 Florida special redistricting, takes in parts of coastal Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. It stretches from Delray Beach south to Miami Beach. (Florida Senate\/courtesy)![\"Supporters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TFL-L-oliver-larkin-town-hall-03.jpeg\")
Supporters of congressional candidate Oliver Larkin, a democratic socialist running in 2026 Democratic nomination in South Florida’s 25th Congressional meeting, created digital graffiti showing support for the candidate at a town hall meeting at MAD Arts in Dania Beach on July 23, 2026. (Anthony Man\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)