Florida is rarely the first place progressives look for encouraging political news.
Once regarded as the nation’s most important swing state, Florida has moved sharply to the right under Republican control. Donald Trump has carried the state three times. Gov. Ron DeSantis has used it as a testing ground for attacks on public education, immigrants, LGBTQ communities, reproductive freedom and organized labor. Meanwhile, Florida Democrats have repeatedly responded to Republican victories by moving toward the political center—or further right—in hopes of winning back conservative voters.
Oliver Larkin believes that strategy has failed.
Larkin, a union organizer, activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is challenging incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz in the Democratic primary for Florida’s newly configured 25th Congressional District.
He is running on Medicare for All, a $25 federal minimum wage, universal childcare, paid family and medical leave, stronger labor protections and an end to private prisons. He supports abolishing qualified immunity and the federal death penalty. He also calls for ending U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza and redirecting military spending toward the needs of working people at home.
For Larkin, these positions are not a political liability. They are the basis of a Democratic revival.
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