{"id":253558,"date":"2026-08-17T23:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T23:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/253558\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T23:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T23:27:16","slug":"florida-primaries-test-pro-israel-democrats-and-gop-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/253558\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida primaries test pro-Israel Democrats and GOP candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an exhausting primary season begins to wind down, voters in Florida, the last remaining big state yet to hold its primaries, head to the polls<\/a> Tuesday with several races on the Jewish community\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n

The conservative state is home to large numbers of Jews, including a growing number of Jewish emigres from more liberal enclaves, and features several marquee matchups on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n

The state has faced some political turmoil, including last-minute Republican-led redistricting that could hurt the chances of some pro-Israel Jewish Democrats at a moment when such figures are an endangered species in the US House.<\/p>\n

On the GOP side, the right\u2019s civil war between hardline pro-Israel figures and a growing crop of white nationalist-adjacent Israel skeptics will be laid bare in multiple races.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the storylines for Jews to watch for on Florida\u2019s ballot:<\/p>\n

The \u2018groyper\u2019 governor\u2019s race<\/p>\n

No other low-polling candidate this cycle has grabbed as much attention as James Fishback, the former investment banker running for governor in Florida.<\/p>\n

\"JamesJames Fishback, Republican nominee for governor of Florida, addresses an audience at the University of Central Florida in University, Florida, April 23, 2026. (credit: SCREENSHOT VIA YOUTUBE)<\/p>\n

Despite consistently trailing his rival, US Rep. Byron Donalds, in the GOP primary, Fishback has raised concern among both Jewish conservatives and party elites. He has embraced online far-right figures including Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist and antisemitic<\/a> influencer, and uses memes and coded phrases such as \u201cgoyslop\u201d to court Fuentes\u2019s \u201cgroyper\u201d movement of young men who spread irony-laced antisemitic talking points online.<\/p>\n

Asked earlier in the campaign about \u201cgoyslop,\u201d a term that refers to low-quality food supposedly promoted by Jewish elites, Fishback told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency he employed it in a speech \u201cbecause it\u2019s funny. Get a life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of Fishback\u2019s campaign has focused on the youth vote, fueling concerns that antisemitism could be a building block of the next generation of the right. His college campus visits have boasted high turnout, and young Republican groups that have hosted him have themselves been criticized for antisemitic behavior.<\/p>\n

Few analysts expect Fishback to win the primary. His campaign has been mired by scandal and odd behavior, and Donalds, the Trump-endorsed frontrunner, leads most polls by comfortable margins. But Fishback is polling in the double digits in some recent analyses of likely voters from polling outlets including Cygnal, which also has him outpacing two other establishment candidates, and primary polling in Michigan and Wisconsin that turned out to be inaccurate further complicates the prognosis.<\/p>\n

Even a reasonably strong performance from Fishback, particularly among the youth vote, would be met with alarm in some Jewish conservative corners.<\/p>\n

A Jew who insults Muslims takes on a rival who insults Jews<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Florida\u2019s Republican field, tensions between rising antisemitic and anti-Islamic sentiment within the party are mounting.<\/p>\n

US Rep. Randy Fine, the incumbent in the state\u2019s deep-red 6th District, has prompted considerable ire on Capitol Hill for comments denigrating Muslims, including comparing them to dogs, and saying that Gazans should \u201cstarve away\u201d until the Israeli hostages were released. As a hardline pro-Israel voter who also wears a kippah on the House floor, Fine has made his Judaism central to his political identity, making him a litmus test for both the right and organized Jewry.<\/p>\n

Some of that ire has made it back to his home district, where Fine is facing primary challenger Dan Bilzerian, a celebrity poker player and Instagram influencer who routinely promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories. He has said he wants to \u201ckill Israelis,\u201d has called Fine a \u201cfat Jew\u201d and called antisemitism \u201ca made-up term.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has further claimed that Israel \u201cwanted Oct. 7 to happen\u201d and called reports of Hamas raping victims that day \u201cbull\u2014t.\u201d Bilzerian has spent at least $1 million of his own money on the race.<\/p>\n

The primary has been marked by inflammatory rhetoric and personal attacks. Fine responded to Bilzerian\u2019s entry into the race by declaring that \u201cwe don\u2019t want Armenians to be able to serve in Congress\u201d (Bilzerian is Armenian), prompting anger from Armenian-American groups.<\/p>\n

Last week a Fine campaign sign was defaced with a swastika, an act condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups. In a release, Fine accused Bilzerian\u2019s supporters of having painted the swastika, a charge Bilzerian has denied and labeled \u201cthe most jew move of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Fine\u2019s campaign said the candidate had referred Bilzerian to federal investigators for allegedly receiving unreported campaign donations from China. Bilzerian\u2019s pitch to voters heavily centers around antisemitism: \u201cDistrict 6 understands the jewish problem,\u201d he wrote on social media over the weekend, accompanied by pictures of his campaign stops.<\/p>\n

Some Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee, have condemned Fine\u2019s rhetoric on Gaza and other matters. He still receives support from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, as well as the Republican Jewish Coalition, whose PAC has given his campaign thousands of dollars this cycle, according to federal election filings. In recent days, Republican leaders including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had declined to condemn Fine\u2019s earlier remarks about Muslims and dogs, have condemned Bilzerian\u2019s antics as antisemitic.<\/p>\n

The combined presence of Bilzerian and Fishback on the ballot is leading at least one GOP group to lump them together as similar threats. The Front Line, a Republican PAC aligned with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and formed with the goal of curbing antisemitism within the party, released an ad during the World Cup that attacked them both.<\/p>\n

In the ad, which was generated with artificial intelligence, the two candidates are shown hosting a party with media personalities Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the pro-Palestinian group Code Pink and Iranian clerics who cut a giant cake made to look like a crossed-out Israeli flag.<\/p>\n

One pro-Israel Dem faces a left-wing challenger\u2026<\/p>\n

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in Congress, is finding himself in a familiar predicament this election cycle: fending off an anti-Zionist democratic socialist.<\/p>\n

Activist Oliver Larkin is running against Moskowitz for the seat in the state\u2019s 25th District, which is about 25% Jewish and is considered a toss-up in November after being redrawn this year. Moskowitz currently represents the 23rd District, which covers much of the same ground.<\/p>\n

Moskowitz has outraised his challenger 11-to-1, according to local media estimates, and has refused to debate him. He has the support of AIPAC, which has raised at least $667,000 for him, according to analyses of federal campaign reports.<\/p>\n

He also has a groundswell of Jewish support in the district, even from some unlikely corners: The rabbi of a large Orthodox synagogue in Boca Raton has encouraged his congregants to change their voter registrations from Republican to Democrat in order to cast votes for Moskowitz.<\/p>\n

Polling from Moskowitz-aligned firms has shown him with a considerable lead, while a poll from a Larkin-aligned outlet this month put the two in a statistical dead heat.<\/p>\n

Moskowitz has also outright accused Larkin of fomenting antisemitism, telling the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board in a letter that his opponent \u201chas embraced the support of individuals and organizations that have repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic rhetoric and hostility toward the Jewish community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moskowitz has also claimed that Larkin is \u201crunning against me solely on my religion.\u201d The Sun Sentinel board rated Moskowitz\u2019s claim \u201cdemonstrably untrue\u201d and, in an unusual move, said it would not endorse him for reelection after he declined a joint interview with Larkin. The paper decried what it described as Moskowitz\u2019s \u201clack of respect for voters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Larkin\u2019s own language has alarmed some Jews, including his labeling of modern-day Israel as a \u201creligious supremacist\u201d country and his call for Israel to become a \u201csecular\u201d state. Asked by Fox News if he supports selling defensive weapons to Israel, Larkin responded, \u201cI do not make a distinction between offensive and defensive weaponry.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rally he and other progressive candidates were scheduled to participate in with Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan on Friday was moved<\/a> at the last minute after the venue, citing Jewish leaders\u2019 concerns over Tlaib\u2019s anti-Israel rhetoric, cancelled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin has denied charges of antisemitism and spoken positively about Judaism on the campaign trail. In a statement to JTA, his campaign said he would advocate for \u201cthe liberation of Jewish South Floridians and Jewish people the world over from antisemitism,\u201d and said an arms embargo on Israel should be \u201cthe minimum standard for anyone claiming to support democracy.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

He also has the support of Jewish figureheads on the anti-Zionist left. Author and trans activist Abby Stein was among a group of progressive figures who hosted a fundraiser for him in Brooklyn earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Redistricting controversy surfaces amid primary race<\/p>\n

Things once seemed simpler for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an establishment Jewish Democrat and former chair of the Democratic National Committee who has comfortably served in Congress since 2004 from a safe blue seat.<\/p>\n

But after a late GOP-led redistricting push in Florida earlier this year, prompted by President Donald Trump\u2019s demands for Republicans to redraw their districts to help them hold the House, Wasserman Schultz\u2019s future is suddenly a lot less certain.<\/p>\n

\"AA campaign aide for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) takes photos of her with voters at a Fourth of July celebration on July 4, 2026 in Sunrise, Fla. (credit: Teo Armus\/TWP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Instead of the district she has represented for decades and which many Democratic observers believed she could still win despite the gerrymandering, the congresswoman decided to run in the neighboring 20th \u2014 a heavily Black district that for three decades has been represented by a Black lawmaker.<\/p>\n

And Wasserman Schultz\u2019s primary opponents, including a former congresswoman facing a federal fraud trial and 2 Live Crew rap star \u201cUncle Luke\u201d Campbell, aren\u2019t happy she\u2019s gunning for the seat. Critics accuse Wasserman Schultz of carpetbagging and say her decision to run in an easier seat will harm Black representation in government. Campbell has said her decision to run would harm Black-Jewish relations.<\/p>\n

Even congressional leaders normally in Wasserman Schultz\u2019s corner have balked at her decision. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> withheld an endorsement in the race, citing what he called the \u201csensitivities of the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s third Jewish Democratic mainstay in the House, Rep. Lois Frankel, is facing her own primary challenge in a new district, though in her case, the boundaries are similar to her old district. Frankel, a staunch Israel supporter, will have to defeat progressive challenger Victoria Doyle, a retired attorney.<\/p>\n

The close resemblance to her old district and lack of substantive groundswell support behind Doyle likely means Frankel will retain the party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n

Besides redistricting, Wasserman Schultz and Frankel, as with other institutional Democrat figures, are also facing a voter base unhappy with the party\u2019s status quo. This year the state\u2019s LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus withheld endorsements in both races, despite Wasserman Schultz\u2019s and Frankel\u2019s historically good relationships with the caucus. Rep. Jared Moskovitz, meanwhile, did receive the caucus\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n

DSA vs. Soviet refugee in Dem Senate primary<\/p>\n

Democrats haven\u2019t held a U.S. Senate seat in Florida since 2019. But in a midterm environment expected to favor the party, the state could prove pivotal, and the primary to replace former Sen. Marco Rubio is putting one of the party\u2019s biggest division points, \u201csocialist\u201d branding, in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

The frontrunner for the nomination, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, is a Kyiv-born Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union. Vindman, whose twin brother is a congressman in Virginia, attained broader name recognition during the first Trump administration, when he publicly testified about a controversial phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.<\/a><\/p>\n

Vindman\u2019s opponent is state Rep. Angie Nixon, who, in contrast to her opponent\u2019s family history of fleeing from socialism, recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America. Nixon has made noise in her party for pushing pro-Palestinian legislation on the state level, including a push, less than a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, for \u201cde-escalation and cease-fire in the state of Israel and occupied Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nixon has campaigned alongside Oliver Larkin, as well as far-left elected figures in the party including Tlaib, and her pro-Palestinian positions are a big point of worry for some Jewish figures. But in a state with high numbers of voters, particularly Latinos, who have fled socialist or Communist regimes, it\u2019s the candidates\u2019 associations with the \u201cS\u201d-word that may prove the deciding factor.<\/p>\n

Vindman has far outraised Nixon to date, and leads in the scant polling that has been conducted so far. A July poll from the University of North Florida, however, suggests that Nixon fares slightly better against the Republican nominee, appointed Sen. Ashley Moody.<\/p>\n

Joseph Strauss contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As an exhausting primary season begins to wind down, voters in Florida, the last remaining big state yet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[2922,2492,6402,19410,1278,8459,21259,37],"class_list":["post-253558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-aipac","tag-antisemitism","tag-democratic-party","tag-democratic-socialists-of-america","tag-florida","tag-gop","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-israel"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117113444985532345","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}