Jared Moskowitz Desperately Needs A Primary Opponent— We’re Looking For One… Any Suggestions?

Oddly, Jared Moskowitz, son of sleazy, right-of-center Democratic fundraiser and lobbyist Michael Moskowitz, never joined the Blue Dogs, even though he votes with them. In fact, according to Progressive Punch, Moskowitz’s voting record is the 15th worst among House Democrats and of the other 14, 8 are Blue Dogs and the rest, like Moskowitz, are corporately-funded New Dems. And right from the beginning, young Jared closely aligned with the DLC wing of the party. In 2019, when he was a state Rep, Ron DeSantis appointed him Director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, DeSantis bipartisan cover, blurring the line between the authoritarian right and institutional Democrats and leaving him politically suspect ever since. DeSantis then appointed Moskowitz again, this time to a vacant seat on the Broward County Commission. Moskowitz cashed in with over $4 million in income to his personal consulting business after he left DeSantis’ Department of Emergency Management before his non-competitive 2022 election to Congress.

Moskowitz shabby electoral career has been financed by corporate PACs and donors aligned with fossil fuel, real estate and insurance interests on the one hand, and the pro-genocide PACs on the other. In fact, he has turned off the Democratic base by consistently downplaying and denying the reality of Israel's bombardment of Gaza being a humanitarian catastrophe, while defending Netanyahu’s far-right government and viciously attacking fellow Democrats like Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush for their support of Palestinian rights. No one was surprised that he has mocked nd dismissed calls for a ceasefire and joined the GOP to make sure military aid to Israel would never be conditional.

Since being elected to Congress in 2022, he has never missed an opportunity to attack New Deal Democrats who he tries to label as out of touch and extreme, while positioning himself as part of a more “reasonable” middle. He’s a Fox Democrat who runs to that outlet to boast that “I’m a moderate, I’m not a progressive… Democrats have to get one thing straight, we need to win. This purity thing that they want to go through, that’s great if we want to continue to [be in the] minority,” always claiming “progressives can’t win” in competitive races, while savaging New Deal policies like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. He has fought with AOC and Bernie, called Ilhan Omar “rabid,” helped reelec Mike Lawler,” joined with Marjorie Traitor Greene in criticizing and censuring Rashida Tlaib and Al Green, called for Cori Bush to be removed from Congress, and voted with Republicans for the Laken Riley Act that has led to surges in unlawful detentions. Democratic leadership had to push him to vote against the SAVE Act, which has been criticized for its potential to strip the right to vote from spouses who changed their legal names after marriage.

Moskowitz rushed to join the DOGE Caucus— the first Democrat to do so and the very last to quit (this week)— so he could kiss Musk’s ass and burnish his “bipartisan cred.” On NPR’s Morning Edition he said “I think conservative now is about shaking up the system.” He’s known for having created real friction with the progressive base of the Democratic Party in his South Florida district. He has mocked Republican James Comer for not holding town halls, while Moskowitz himself has been scarce around his own district and spurned an Indivisible town hall of 450 people in which the crowd booed and cheered calls to “primary him.” He called that Indivisible group a “special interest” in a Fox News Sunday  interview last weekend. A conservative who tries passing himself off as a “moderate,” he maintained on Fox that progressive values are an electoral loser for the Democratic Party in districts like his in South Florida. That stance leaves those same Broward and Palm Beach county activists now openly wondering if he’s bungling the race, as he further alienates the Democratic base.

And, by the way, this week, Moskowitz, joined MAGA Republican Marjorie Traitor Greene (R-GA) and Jefferson Shreve (R-IN) as three of the only House members to disclose very large stock trades after buying the dip amidst Trump’s tariffs and trade war. Moskowitz has made 339 traders totaling $3.26 million in the 2.5 short years since he was first sworn into office in January 2023. Most recently, he bought stocks that included Amazon and Lockheed Martin between $20,000 and $300,000 in value.

NextEra Energy, parent company of Florida Power & Light, is a top contributor while FPL pursues the largest rate hike in U.S. history. That leaves activists questioning if Moskowitz’s actions are putting FL-23 in play for Republicans. Republicans, for their part, have two candidates who outraised Moskowitz in the first FEC quarter in Florida’s closest congressional race.

Meanwhile, the Center for Effective Lawmaking with the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University ranked Moskowitz as the least effective Florida Democrat in Congress, with only 11 bills sponsored, none making it to committee, while he missed two and a half times more roll call votes than the average House member.

He didn’t face a Democratic primary in 2024. That needs to change this cycle. His election alongside Republicans has coincided with Florida Democrats’ collapse since the 2022 midterm elections. With multiple conservative Florida Dems abandoning the party, it’s fair to wonder— is Jared Moskowitz next? And if not, will there be a progressive Democrat to step up, primary him, and save this battleground seat?