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The race for Congressional District 23 is in our Election Spotlight. It covers portions of southern Palm Beach County and goes into Broward as well.
The incumbent is first term Congressman Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat and Florida's former emergency management director.
Six Republicans are battling it out in a primary with the hopes of facing Moskowitz in November. They include Gary Barve, who has worked in the technology industry but is currently focused on running for Congress.
"Under Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Moskowitz our country has gone down a tremendous negative spiral. I believe President Trump will be the one to save America."
He pledges to vote 100 percent with Trump's agenda should the former president become president again and Barve get into the U.S. House.
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar ran for this seat two years ago and came in third out of 7 candidates. She owns a healthcare insurance agency and refers to herself as "The Medicare Lady."
"Our constituents are asking for lower inflation, better economy, bringing back jobs and resources, securing the border, stopping all this illegal activity and that's my ultimate goal is to restore honor and integrity into the halls of Congress."
Joe Kaufman is a counter-terrorism researcher and writer who's concerned about America's debt and foreign policy.
Kaufman has run for Congress twice before, both times against Broward Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He says that in 2016, when that district had less than 25 percent Republican registration, he captured 41 percent of the vote. He calls District 23 very winnable for him should he get the Republican nomination.
"This district in particular is one of the heaviest Jewish populations in the United States and so unless you're Jewish and I hate saying that because it shouldn't be the case, but it's true. Unless you're a Jewish candidate in this race, you're probably not going to have the chance to win the general election."
There is another Jewish candidate in this race and he's a former Palm Beach County Commissioner and Mayor who served as a Democrat but has changed his party. That's become a topic of conversation in this primary. We'll get to that in a moment, but first...
Our fourth candidate, Carla Spalding is a nurse and a professor. This U.S. Navy veteran has run for Congress multiple times, as recently as 2022 when she lost to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, but got about 45 percent of the vote in that Broward County district.
Spalding says she first started running to help her fellow veterans...
"But now that I'm in the race I realize that it's more than just veterans. It's about saving America and its people. At this point if we do not rise up, we will not have a country in 2024, after this election."
As mentioned earlier, also in this race is Robert Weinroth, a former Democrat who served as Palm Beach County Commissioner and spent some time as mayor.
Spalding questions his motives for changing parties.
"One candidate in the race actually endorsed Jared Moskowitz in the last cycle. He has no interest in the America First agenda."
Weinroth was beaten in his re-election effort on the County Commission by a Republican and now wants to serve as one in the U.S. House.
We asked him if what his opponents say is true...if he is simply a 'RINO' or Republican in name only...
"I walked away from the Democrat party in the same way that Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump did because we felt and we understood that we belong in the Republican party. That it more aligns with our beliefs. There's a movement called 'Jexit,' which is basically Jewish registered Democrats who are walking away from the party because of their positions on Israel and antisemitism."
Weinroth's platform contains many of the standard tenets of the Republican party, including expanding the Trump tax cuts.
One candidate, Joe Thelusca, did not respond to our efforts to feature him in this story.