Control of the U.S. House of Representatives could hinge on a seat in southeastern Florida where immigration and gun policy have emerged as defining issues.
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., faces Republican Scott Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton, on Nov. 3 in the race to represent Florida’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District.
Singer has built his campaign around an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who backed him on social media last month. Moskowitz has positioned himself as a moderate Democrat willing to work across the aisle.
The seat was previously rated “solid Democratic” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report but was changed to a “tossup” after Florida’s redistricting this year. With Republicans holding a slim majority in the House, control of the chamber could come down to a handful of competitive races like Florida’s 25th District.
The new 25th District consists of a narrow strip along Florida’s Atlantic coast, drawing voters from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
November’s midterm elections will be the first under Florida’s new congressional map. The Downballot calculated that Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris by about 9 points within the new 25th District’s boundaries.
Immigration has been a defining part of Singer’s message to voters.
“Under Biden, millions of people streamed across our border without vetting, leading to violent crime, lawlessness, and human trafficking,” Singer wrote in a Ballotpedia candidate survey. “We need to secure our borders and remove dangerous criminals from our streets.”
Florida’s redrawn 25th District pulls in a significant immigrant population from northern Miami-Dade and southern Broward. Singer said he supports a “merit-based approach” to immigration for those “who respect the law and share American values.”
“America will always be a welcoming nation for those who follow the rules and come here legally, like many in our community have,” he wrote.
A Singer campaign ad touts his chairmanship of the America First Policy Institute Mayors Council, a group of mayors who work alongside the Trump administration. Singer has campaigned on his support for the administration’s border policies, which he says have eased the fentanyl and opioid crisis.
“Rep. Moskowitz supported the failed Biden policies,” Singer wrote in the survey. “Now many Democrats want to end immigration enforcement, showing how far left that party has drifted.”
Moskowitz’s campaign website says he is willing to work across the aisle and call out members of his own party when needed, pointing to immigration as an example.
His website says he “broke with members of his own party who wanted to defund the agencies that keep our communities safe,” while adding that enforcement “has to be accountable and humane, not cruelty for its own sake.”
As a member of Congress, Moskowitz voted for the Laken Riley Act, which requires federal detention of undocumented immigrants who are charged with theft-related crimes. The bill passed 263-156 with support from a minority of Democrats.
Moskowitz has made gun policy a central issue of his campaign. He is a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 people were killed in 2018 in the deadliest shooting at a high school in U.S. history.
As a state representative for Parkland at the time, he championed a 2018 state law that raised the age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21 and imposed a waiting period.
“In America, I believe we should be able to make parents a simple promise: when you drop your kids off at school, you get to pick them up alive,” Moskowitz wrote in a 2022 Ballotpedia candidate survey.
Singer has vowed to protect Second Amendment rights if elected to Congress. His campaign website says the focus should be on “stopping criminals, greater enforcement of existing laws, and more mental health treatment.”
Singer touted a reduction in crime during his tenure as mayor of Boca Raton, saying crime fell 25% while he was in office.
Moskowitz leads in fundraising, reporting just under $3 million raised and $1.88 million in cash on hand in his latest filings to the Federal Election Commission. Singer reported $2.26 million raised and $476,478 on hand.
Libertarian Peter Jassenoff will also appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, and Michaelangelo Hamilton is running as a write-in candidate.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time on Election Day.
