FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer launched a 2026 congressional bid Thursday, hoping to flip the swing-seat district currently held by Democrat Jared Moskowitz to the Republican column.

“We need leaders in Congress who will work to build on the success President Trump has had to secure our borders, defend our nation, reduce waste, and bring tax relief to Americans,” Singer said in a written statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

And in an announcement video, Singer sought to align himself with Donald Trump, using several images of the president — and a clip of Trump mentioning and thanking Singer. “Scott Singer is running for Congress to build on President Trump’s success, to secure our borders, defend our nation, cut waste and bring taxes and costs down for all Americans,” the narrator explains.

He enters the race with some advantages — and facing some political headwinds.

Singer is a prominent local elected official whose base is an important part of the district. And, his statement indicated, he plans to play up his record leading the city. “As mayor, I fought to keep taxes and crime low and delivered results to provide an affordable, safe, and vibrant place to live,” he said.

But he’s a Republican running in what could be a tough environment. In most midterm elections following a presidential contest, the president’s party loses seats in Congress. In 2025 special elections — including in Florida — Democrats have done better than they did in 2024 and Republicans have been doing worse.

Redistricting

Another challenge: Singer, like all the other candidates, doesn’t know exactly where he’ll be running.

Right now, he’s seeking the Republican nomination in the 23rd Congressional District, which takes in northern Broward and much of the coast extending south through most of Fort Lauderdale and a share of southern Palm Beach County, including the city of Boca Raton and unincorporated communities west of the city.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis and leaders of the Florida Legislature are planning an unusual mid-decade redistricting of congressional boundaries before next year’s election. Districts are normally redrawn every 10 years, and Florida’s current map was implemented in 2022.

Republicans are hoping changes will increase the number of Florida congressional districts favorable to the party in response to a demand from President Donald Trump. Trump has demanded that states controlled by Republicans reconfigure congressional district boundaries in ways designed to get more Republicans and fewer Democrats elected.

One of the top targets of Florida Republicans: Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz and the 23rd District. Moskowitz is seeking a third term.

The 23rd District could get more Republican territory by adding more of Palm Beach County and less Democratic territory by removing some of Broward.

The district is already close. The partisan voting index from the Cook Political Report rates the district as D plus 2, which means it performed 2 points more Democratic than the nation during the past two presidential contests.

Moskowitz’s 2022 and 2024 victories were the smallest margins of any congressional races in the state. He lost the Palm Beach County part of the district in both 2022 and 2024, winning both times on the strength of Democratic voters in Broward.

Who is Scott Singer?

In July, the America First Policy Institute announced it was forming a Mayor’s Council with Singer as its chair. The policy institute is a conservative, pro-Trump policy research and advocacy organization founded by leading figures from Trump’s first term. It formed shortly after he lost the 2020 election.

“My mission is to bring common-sense solutions and America First policies that protect our families, our safety, and our livelihood,” said Singer, whose campaign also described him as a fiscal conservative.

Singer, 49, a lawyer, received a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and a law degree from Georgetown University. Born in Miami, he was raised in Fort Lauderdale, where he graduated from Pine Crest School. He and his wife, Bella, have two children.

He was first elected to the Boca Raton City Council in 2014. He was elected mayor in 2018, and reelected in 2020 and 2023. He was the 2021-2022 president of the Florida League of Mayors. Term limits prevented Singer from running for reelection as mayor; he leaves office in March.

Singer considered running for Congress in 2022 but opted against it. In July, he said in an interview he was thinking about a 2026 candidacy.

As he’s been considering the race, he’s been able to use his role of mayor to generate some national attention. When Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor-elect of New York, won the Democratic Party primary in June, Singer’s response to the democratic socialist’s victory was pitching New York businesses on the idea of moving to Boca Raton.

Singer said at the time that his effort wasn’t political or motivated by a potential congressional campaign, but was aimed only at attracting jobs.

The mayoralty has given Singer ways to stand out locally, by participating in ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings featuring ceremonial shovels of dirt, and presenting oversized check replicas to recipients of funding.

Singer received nationwide TV attention before he was in elected office, thanks to his knowledge of obscure information that some would label trivia.

In 2013, he appeared for two nights on “Jeopardy!”, where he won $42,401. Years earlier, at age 25, Singer paid for part of his law school education with the $64,000 he won on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”

Other candidates

Singer doesn’t have a clear path to the party nomination.

Republicans already running are former state Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale; Joe Kaufman, who was the party’s 2024 nominee against Moskowitz; plus several lesser-known candidates.

The most recent reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show that Moraitis had $405,000 in his campaign account on Sept. 30. Kaufman had $359,000.

Most of the district’s voters, including Republicans who vote in the primary to pick the nominee, live in Broward. If the district gets more Palm Beach County Republicans, that could be a plus for Singer and a minus for Moraitis.

The congressional primary is Aug. 18.

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