South Florida Sun Sentinel
Mar 13, 2022 9:22 AM
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A second elected official in Fort Lauderdale, Commissioner Ben Sorensen, may seek the Democratic nomination for a suddenly open congressional seat.
The first to enter is Jared Moskowitz, currently a Broward County commissioner.
Broward County Commissioner Jared Moskowitz, left, and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis at a reception before the Broward Democratic Party’s annual Obama Roosevelt fundraising dinner on March 12, 2022, in Davie. Moskowitz is running for the Democratic congressional nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch who isn’t seeking re-election. Trantalis is assessing a candidacy. (Anthony Man / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sorensen said he is “looking hard” at the race.
“Any time you have folks that come to you and say, ‘Hey you should really look at this congressional seat’ it’s humbling. It’s an honor and it’s something we’re never going to take lightly,” Sorensen said.
Some Democratic Party insiders said they expected an imminent announcement, but Sorensen said that isn’t the case. “We’re in no rush and we’re going to take our time working together and thinking through it and make sure whatever decision we make is the right one,” he said Saturday evening.
“This is an open seat,” Moskowitz said. “I’m sure other people will get in. At the end of the day, we’re going to run our race regardless of who decides to get in.”
Moskowitz has been rolling out endorsements, including from several elected officials who had considered running themselves, since announcing his candidacy on March 4 — four days after Deutch said he was leaving Congress.
Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Ben Sorensen and his wife Anna at a reception before the Broward Democratic Party’s annual Obama Roosevelt fundraising dinner on March 12, 2022, in Davie. Sorensen is considering running for the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch is vacating. (Anthony Man / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
“I’m going to tell my story to the voters of my 15 years of public service from when I was a city commissioner to when I was a state representative to what we did with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety bill and what I did is the director of emergency management both helping Florida recover from a Category 5 storm and from a one-in-100 year pandemic,” Moskowitz said.
Trantalis said Saturday he’s continuing to evaluate the viability of a run for Congress. “I just don’t jump into things. We have to assess,” he said.
A significant complicating factor for Trantalis and Sorensen: Under the state’s resign to run law, they’d have to resign their current positions to qualify as candidates for Congress. Moskowitz, who was appointed to fill a County Commission vacancy that runs through the November election, isn’t in the same position.
Congressman Ted Deutch listens to a speaker during a Broward Democratic Party fundraising dinner, Saturday, March 12, 2022, at the Signature Grand in Davie. His decision to forgo re-election has set off a scramble among potential candidates to replace him. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel)
He was appointed to the County Commission, and earlier as state emergency management director, by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — who is despised by Democratic Party activists and was repeatedly criticized at Saturday’s Democratic dinner.
The DeSantis selections of Moskowitz prompted a poke from Trantalis on Saturday. “He’s a talented person,” Trantalis said of Moskowitz, “otherwise Governor DeSantis wouldn’t have appointed him.”
Moskowitz said the appointments show his effectiveness. “I think the fact that there are other people [DeSantis] that disagree with my policies, but think I’m the most competent person for two jobs, I think that speaks volumes.”
Will it be a negative in a party primary? “I’m sure some Democratic candidates that decide to run against me that called me when they needed help and I was there for them, I’m sure they’ll now try to make that an issue,” he said, adding that when Fort Lauderdale needed assistance with personal protective equipment, testing and vaccines during during the pandemic “they called me and I batted a thousand for them.”
Sorensen, 43, said he’s a lifelong Democrat whose “story is a little unique.” He is in the Navy Reserve, has worked in national security and is a former teacher. He won his first election to the city commission in 2018 by just 55 votes out of 5,477 votes cast, which he jokingly refers to as a “landslide,” and was re-elected in 2020 without opposition.
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Deutch, first elected to Congress in a 2010 special election, is the 31st House Democrat who decided not to seek re-election in 2022. On Oct. 1, he becomes CEO of the American Jewish Committee.
Congressional district boundaries are changing this year to reflect population changes uncovered in the 2020 census, but the district is likely to remain Democratic based on the voter registration in northern Broward and southern Palm Beach counties.
Deutch left open the possibility of making a primary endorsement. “Jared’s outstanding. I don’t have a plan to get involved right now. Jared’s a great candidate,” he said.
Broward County Commissioner Jared Moskowitz, left, and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis listen to a speaker during a reception before the Broward Democratic Party’s annual Obama Roosevelt fundraising dinner on March 12, 2022, in Davie. Moskowitz is running for the Democratic congressional nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch who isn’t seeking re-election. Trantalis is assessing a candidacy. (Anthony Man / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
