Three democratic socialist candidates are looking to upset mainstream liberals in the Aug. 18 primaries in President Donald Trump’s home state of Florida.

The underdog insurgents are running in House and Senate contests with a policy menu that has toppled other Democratic incumbents in 2026, including “Medicare for All” and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

They nonetheless face an uphill battle, given the anti-socialism sentiment in South Florida, which has a large population of immigrants who fled communist and socialist Latin American governments such as the Castro regime in Cuba.

“It could be a very long and challenging night for them,” Tara Newsom, a political science professor at St. Petersburg College, in St. Petersburg, Florida, said about the progressive candidates’ odds.

Also on Aug. 18, Democrats are putting up former Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska’s nonpartisan primary, in the hopes of ousting Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Trump won by 14 percentage points in his historic 2024 presidential victory, but polls show the race is close between Sullivan and Peltola, a moderate who would be the first Alaska Native in the Senate.

Can socialists make history in Florida?

In one House primary race, activist and union organizer Oliver Larkin, a member of the Democratic Socialist of America, is challenging two-term Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz in Florida’s newly mapped 25th Congressional District. The matchup is a direct result of state Republican lawmakers redrawing and eliminating Moskowitz’s former district and replacing it with one that leans toward Republicans.

The fight for the new district comes down to whether Florida voters will follow Larkin and the leftward trend in New York, Colorado, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

“It’s a populist message. It’s not a crazy idea that we should have universal child care, paid family and medical leave, Medicare for all, especially when you look at other peer nations of the United States,” Larkin said during an Aug. 11 interview with Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network. Larkin has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.

Moskowitz, when asked by Florida Politics, an online news site, what Congress should do to ease the cost of living for working people, said they need to stop arguing over who gets the blame and lower the bills people actually pay.

“In South Florida, that means attacking the insurance crisis, bringing down health care and prescription drug costs, expanding the supply of housing, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and making sure tax relief is aimed at working families instead of the elite,” Moskowitz said. “We also need disciplined budgeting. Affordability does not improve when Washington adds trillions to the debt while working families are still getting squeezed.”

Meanwhile, progressive activist Elijah Manley is facing Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, in a controversial 20th Congressional District primary. Manley is not a member of the DSA but he identifies as a democratic socialists.

Republicans also eliminated Wasserman Schultz’s former district, as the white, Jewish lawmaker is now facing some backlash for running in a historically Black and deeply Democratic area in Broward County that also includes the city of Fort Lauderdale.

Besides Manley, other critics of Wasserman Schultz running in the district include renowned rapper Luther Campbell, also known to hip hop fans as “Uncle Luke.” Campbell’s seminal group, 2 Live Crew, famously challenged lawmakers questioning the group’s use of explicit lyrics on songs like “Me So Horny.” A federal judge ruled 2 Live Crew’s album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be” obscene in 1990. 

Other candidates include former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness and former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned from the seat in April amid federal money-laundering charges. She was accused of stealing $5 million in federal disaster relief aid.

Then there’s Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon, a DSA member, who is running in the Senate Democratic primary against Alex Vindman, the retired Army lieutenant colonel who gave critical evidence during Trump’s first impeachment.

If either Larkin, Manley, or Nixon wins their primary, it would be considered a major upset, said Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of the nonpartisan Sabato’s Crystal Ball newsletter at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“If Moskowitz loses to Larkin, it would definitely damage the Democrats’ chances of holding that seat. I think the Republican candidate would be favored if Larkin wins and advances to November.” Kondik said. “I believe that Wasserman Schultz should beat Manley and the rest of the field.

“I don’t think Florida voters are ready to support these far-left candidates running for office,” Kondik added.

Newsom of St. Petersburg agrees.

“This is big-time MAGA country,” Newsom said. “What works in New York and other parts of the country may not fly here.”

Byron Donalds, David Jolly appear automatic to win gubernatorial primaries

Rep. Byron Donalds is the leading contender to win the Republican nomination for Florida governor.

Donalds has the key endorsement from President Trump, raised more than $100 million for his campaign, and polls indicate GOP voters in the Aug. 18 primary will likely choose him for the November 3 general election against the likely Democratic nominee David Jolly, a former Republican congressman and Trump critic.

“I’m curious to see what happens going forward,” Newsom said. “Trump’s support is good for the primary, but his favorability rating is tanking. What kind of effect will that and other factors have on Donalds from becoming the first Black governor of Florida? Time will tell.”

USA TODAY Network’s John Kennedy, Curt Anderson and Brandi Atwood contributed