Jared Moskowitz - Wikiwand

Jared Evan Moskowitz (/ˈmɒskəwɪts/ MOSS-kə-wits; born December 18, 1980) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 23rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served on the Broward County Commission from 2022 to 2023 and as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management from 2019 to 2021. Moskowitz also represented the Coral Springs-Parkland area in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2019.

Quick Facts Preceded by, Member of theBroward County Commission from the 8th district ...

Jared Moskowitz


Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 23rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Ted Deutch
Member of the Broward County Commission from the 8th district
In office January 12, 2022 – January 3, 2023
Appointed by	Ron DeSantis
Preceded by	Barbara Sharief
Succeeded by	Robert McKinzie
Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management
In office January 15, 2019 – April 30, 2021
Governor	Ron DeSantis
Preceded by	Wes Maul
Succeeded by	Kevin Guthrie
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 97th district
In office November 6, 2012 – January 11, 2019
Preceded by	Martin David Kiar
Succeeded by	Dan Daley

Personal details
Born	Jared Evan Moskowitz (1980-12-18) December 18, 1980 (age 44) Coral Springs, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Leah Rifkin
Education	George Washington University (BA) Nova Southeastern University (JD)
Website	House website

Early life and education

Moskowitz was born on December 18, 1980, in Coral Springs, Florida.^[1] His father, Michael, was an attorney, philanthropist, and prominent Democratic fundraiser.^[2] Moskowitz graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.^[3] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science^[4] from George Washington University^[5] and a Juris Doctor from the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University.^[6]

Early political career

Summarize

Perspective

Moskowitz began his political career as an intern for Vice President Al Gore and later worked as an assistant on Joe Lieberman's 2004 presidential campaign.^[7] In 2008, he was a Florida delegate pledged to Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention.^[7]

While attending law school, Moskowitz was elected to the Parkland City Commission in 2006 and reelected in 2010.^[1] As a city commissioner, he supported efforts to make the city more eco-friendly by providing subsidies to households that purchased low-flow toilets and showerheads, energy-efficient air conditioners, and hybrid cars.^[8] He resigned in 2012 to run for the state legislature.^[1]

After law school, Moskowitz worked as the director of government relations and general counsel for AshBritt Environmental, a disaster recovery and environmental services company.^[7]^[9]

Florida House of Representatives

Following the 2012 redistricting, Moskowitz ran for the newly drawn 97th house district, which consisted of northern Broward County. He won the Democratic primary unopposed and advanced to the general election, where he faced Republican nominee James Gleason, a business owner who had been an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Coral Springs. The Sun-Sentinel praised both candidates as "good choices for an open seat" but endorsed Moskowitz, declaring that his "good grasp of statewide and local issues" made him the better candidate.^[10] He defeated Gleason with 69% of the vote.^[11]

During his first term in the legislature, Moskowitz sponsored a memorial for Robert Levinson, who has been held as a hostage in Iran since 2007, calling on "Congress, the Obama administration and the Secretary of State's office to work to get Levinson home." Moskowitz's proposed memorial passed both houses of the legislature and was signed by Governor Rick Scott.^[12]

In 2014 and 2016, Moskowitz was reelected to the legislature without opposition.

In 2018, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Moskowitz helped draft the bipartisan Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Act, a bill to tighten gun control, school security, and school safety.^[13]

Division of Emergency Management

In December 2018, Governor-elect Ron DeSantis appointed Moskowitz as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.^[14] He took office the next month as the state was recovering from Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm.^[15]^[16] As director, he managed Florida's response to multiple crises, including two hurricane seasons and the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, he oversaw the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccines, and testing supplies.^[9]

In 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moskowitz criticized 3M for diverting millions of N95 masks intended for Florida to foreign buyers offering higher prices. He described his unsuccessful efforts to secure masks, with distributors directing state officials to empty warehouses. According to Moskowitz, 3M's U.S. distributors acknowledged that Florida’s orders were delayed in favor of more profitable foreign sales, including to Germany, Russia, and France.^[17]^[18]^[19]

Moskowitz also criticized 60 Minutes for running a story that claimed that Governor Ron DeSantis engaged in a pay-to-play scheme with supermarket chain Publix over distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, writing that "[n]o one" from DeSantis's "office suggested Publix" to distribute the vaccines.^[20]^[21]

In April 2021, Moskowitz left the Division of Emergency Management to be closer to his father who had pancreatic cancer.^[22]^[23] He received credit across party lines for his handling of Florida's pandemic response.^[9] Later that year, in August, Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointed him as an advisor for the county's COVID-19 response.^[24]

U.S. House of Representatives

Summarize

Perspective

Elections

2022

In 2022, following Representative Ted Deutch's announcement to leave Congress, Moskowitz declared his candidacy for Florida's 23rd congressional district.^[25] He secured the Democratic nomination in the August primary with 61.1% of the vote, defeating a range of challengers including Ben Sorensen who received 20.5%.^[26]^[27]

In the November general election, Moskowitz faced Republican nominee Joe Budd.^[4] Moskowitz won with 51.6% of the vote, while Budd received 46.8%. Independent candidates Christine Scott and Mark Napier received 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively.^[28]^[29]

2024

In 2024, Moskowitz secured reelection for a second term. He faced Republican Joe Kaufman and won with 52.3% of the vote.^[30]^[31] Following his reelection, Moskowitz was informed of a potential assassination plot against him. A suspect was arrested near his home with a rifle and a manifesto containing antisemitic views.^[32]

Tenure

Moskowitz was sworn into office on January 7, 2023, as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 23rd congressional district.^[33] During the 118th Congress, he served on the Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Accountability committees.^[33] In February, Moskowitz and Republican Representative Mario Díaz-Balart reintroduced the EAGLES Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at expanding the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center to improve research, training, and threat assessment programs for preventing targeted school violence.^[34]

In 2024, Moskowitz was named one of six Democrats on a bipartisan task force investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.^[35] In September, he co-sponsored the bipartisan Enhanced Presidential Security Act, which aimed to establish equal secret service protection for presidents, vice presidents, and major candidates.^[36] The bill was signed into law the next month.^[37]

On March 6, 2025, Moskowitz was one of ten Democrats in Congress who joined all of their Republican colleagues in voting to censure Democratic congressman Al Green for interrupting President Donald Trump's speech to Congress.^[38]

Committee assignments

Moskowitz's committee assignments for the 119th Congress include:^[39]

Caucus memberships

Moskowitz's caucus memberships include:^[40]

New Democrat Coalition
Bipartisan School Safety and Security Caucus (co-chair)
Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Caucus (co-chair and co-founder)

Political positions

Summarize

Perspective

COVID-19 policy

In February 2023, Moskowitz was one of 11 Democrats who voted in favor of a resolution to end the COVID-19 national emergency.^[41]^[42]

Department of Government Efficiency

Moskowitz is the only Democrat to have joined the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus in Congress. He has proposed reorganizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by potentially removing agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Secret Service from its jurisdiction. This proposal aims to reduce the size of the DHS.^[43]

Foreign affairs

In November 2023, Moskowitz was one of 12 House Democrats to vote for a $14.3 billion aid package to Israel that was funded by cutting the IRS budget.^[44] He criticised pro-Palestinians demonstrations at Columbia University as anti-Semitic and said that the university leadership did not protect Jewish students.^[45]^[46] Moskowitz stated the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu as "irrelevant because Israel is not a party to their treaty."^[47]

Immigration

In 2025, Moskowitz was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.^[48]

Personal life

Moskowitz is married to Leah Rifkin, and they have two children. They live in Coral Springs. He is Jewish.^[7]^[49]