Republicans drop bid to get Libertarian candidate removed from ballot in Florida congressional race

Anthony Man, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Sep 2, 2026

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Republican Party dropped its attempt to get a Libertarian candidate removed from the ballot in South Florida’s most closely contested 2026 congressional race.

As a result, Peter Jassenoff’s name and party (Libertarian) will appear on the November election ballot in the Broward/Miami-Dade/Palm Beach County 25th Congressional District, along with Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Republican Scott Singer.

The Moskowitz-Singer contest is one of the closest in the country. All the major independent ratings — Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics — report the 25th District is a toss up. It’s so close that the outcome could help determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives after the midterm elections.

Libertarian Jassenoff’s presence on the ballot in a close race, especially if he receives voters that might otherwise have gone to the Republican nominee, could influence the outcome. Florida has experienced the impact of minor-party candidates in close elections, most notably in the 2000 presidential election.

Ralph Nader received 97,488 votes in Florida as a Green Party candidate in the 2000 presidential election, siphoning some votes away from Democrat Al Gore. Ultimately Republican George W. Bush finished 537 votes ahead of Gore, winning the state’s electoral votes, which elected him president.

Even though Jassenoff’s name will appear on the November ballot, he said in a telephone interview he doesn’t expect to spend much time on the campaign trail. He said he’s spending time on his pharmaceutical research job.

His candidacy, he said, is “more about just getting the Libertarian name out there more than anything. More exposure. Not a lot of people even know what the party is. The little bit of campaigning I’ve done I’ve had to educate people on what a Libertarian is. That’s not an easy thing to do. It’s very complex.”

A central tenet of Libertarian Party philosophy is keeping government involvement in private decisions to a minimum, which includes free markets, little government regulation, limited government programs and minimal military engagements overseas.

The Republican Party of Florida and three of its District 25 candidates — Singer and unsuccessful primary candidates Dan Franzese and George Moraitis — filed a lawsuit asking a circuit court judge to remove Jassenoff’s name from the ballot.

The Republicans’ lawsuit alleged he used a personal check, not a campaign check, to pay the $10,440 qualifying fee to become a candidate. Because, they said, Jassenoff paid the qualifying fee from his personal account, he “must be disqualified as a candidate.”

To back up their claims, the Republicans attached a copy of Jassenoff’s check. “PETER JASSENOFF” is written on the top left corner of the check, with “Campaign Account of Peter Jassenoff for Congress” handwritten on the front. The Republicans also said that “the check number — 138 — confirms that the check is not associated with a newly opened campaign account.”

“We proved that everything that they said wasn’t true, and after that I guess their case fell apart,” Jassenoff said. “It was done by the books. It was a political account. Everything was done properly. Everything that they stated wasn’t true.”

Financial information was shared among the parties, the docket on Leon County Circuit Clerk’s Office website shows. The Republican Party and the candidates then asked for dismissal of the case they had filed.

“The bank printed the checks with just (Jassenoff’s) name, even though it was a campaign account. So when he qualified, the RPOF thought it was a personal check. We basically showed them all the information and let them subpoena the bank, which the bank confirmed. When they realized that it was indeed, a campaign check, they dismissed the case,” Jassenoff’s attorney, Juan-Carlos “J.C.” Planas said via text.

Planas, who practices election law, is a former Miami-Dade County state legislator.

The district

The new 25th Congressional District was created this year as part of an unusual mid-decade revamping of the state’s congressional districts. An aide to Gov. Ron DeSantis crafted the new map, which was ratified by Republicans who control the state Legislature.

President Donald Trump sparked a wave of mid-decade redistricting efforts when he demanded that Republican-controlled states redraw district boundaries in ways that would get more Republicans and fewer Democrats elected in November.

The 25th District, which runs from Delray Beach to Miami Beach, has a slight Republican tilt.

The partisan voting index from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as R plus 3, which means it performed 3 points more Republican than the nation during the last two presidential contests. Data from multiple analysts showed that Trump won the district by about 9 percentage points in 2024, but Democrat Joe Biden won it by about 5 points in 2020.

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