Florida Primaries Show Mixed Results for Pro-Israel and Anti-Israel Candidates

Florida voters delivered mixed results Tuesday in a series of primary races where Israel and antisemitism emerged as significant campaign issues, with several prominent Jewish and pro-Israel candidates advancing while Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scored an upset victory in the race for U.S. Senate.

Nixon defeated former national security official Alex Vindman for the Democratic Senate nomination, receiving 56.1% of the vote to Vindman’s 43.9%, according to unofficial results from the Florida Department of State. She will face Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who easily won her party’s primary, in November.

The Democratic Socialists of America-backed Nixon had been heavily outspent by Vindman but built support around a progressive platform. She has also been a vocal critic of Israel. In November 2023, shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack, Nixon introduced a resolution in the Florida House calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The measure was defeated 104-2.

Vindman, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, became nationally known for his testimony during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. Nixon’s victory marked one of the most significant wins of the night for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

However, elsewhere in Florida, candidates challenging established pro-Israel lawmakers were less successful.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz defeated Democratic socialist Oliver Larkin in the newly redrawn 25th Congressional District, winning 63.5% of the vote to Larkin’s 36.5%. Moskowitz, who is Jewish, has been one of the more outspoken Democratic supporters of Israel in Congress.

Larkin had called for a complete U.S. arms embargo on Israel and challenged Moskowitz from the party’s anti-Zionist left. The race drew particular attention because the district includes heavily Jewish areas of South Florida.

On the Republican side, Rep. Randy Fine decisively defeated social media personality Dan Bilzerian in Florida’s 6th Congressional District. Fine received 57.6% of the vote, while Bilzerian finished second with 18.9%.

Bilzerian’s campaign drew widespread condemnation over repeated antisemitic attacks against Fine, who is Jewish and a vocal supporter of Israel. Bilzerian used anti-Jewish slurs and conspiracy theories during the campaign, while one campaign video included a favorable reference to Adolf Hitler. Jewish members of Congress from both parties publicly condemned the attacks.

Fine’s victory was another setback for Republican candidates who made opposition to Israel a prominent part of their campaigns.

In the Republican gubernatorial primary, Rep. Byron Donalds won the nomination with 47.8% of the vote. James Fishback, who repeatedly criticized U.S. support for Israel and pledged to push Florida institutions to divest from Israel Bonds, received 10.5%.

Meanwhile, three prominent Jewish Democratic members of Congress advanced despite a Republican-led redrawing of Florida’s congressional map that significantly altered their districts.

Former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz won a five-candidate primary in the 20th Congressional District with 45.3% of the vote. Rep. Lois Frankel won the Democratic nomination in the 23rd District with 74.7%. Both lawmakers have longstanding records of support for Israel.

Moskowitz’s victory completed the trio of wins for the state’s Jewish Democratic incumbents, though all three will still have to navigate newly drawn districts in November.

Taken together, Tuesday’s results offered no single verdict on the growing debate over Israel in American politics. Nixon’s Senate victory showed that a candidate strongly critical of Israel could score a major Democratic upset, while Larkin failed to unseat Moskowitz and Bilzerian and Fishback fell short in Republican races. Fine, Moskowitz, Wasserman Schultz and Frankel all advanced, underscoring the mixed results for candidates on opposing sides of the Israel debate.