Florida New Members 2023

Rep.-elect Aaron Bean (R-Fla.-4)

DATE OF BIRTH: Jan. 25, 1967
RESIDENCE: Fernandina Beach, Fla.
OCCUPATION: community relations officer, UF Health Jacksonville; owner, High Energy Auction Company
EDUCATION: B.S., Jacksonville University
FAMILY: wife, Abby Bean; three children

• After beating Democratic challenger LaShonda Holloway, Aaron Bean (R) will represent Florida’s 4th District.

Bean formerly owned a small business, and he said it was after gaining firsthand knowledge of the burdens government places on businesses that he was inspired to get involved in politics. Bean would start locally serving as a city commissioner in Fernandina Beach where he later was elected mayor.

From there Bean would run for state office, serving eight years in the Florida House of Representatives.

After the state House, Bean returned to entrepreneurship and rescued a beloved putt-putt golf business in the community.

After some time away, Bean decided it was time to return to politics. He has served for eight years in the Florida state Senate advocating for lower taxes and focusing on pro-business and pro-family initiatives. 

— Camdyn Bruce

Rep.-elect Cory Mills (R-Fla.-7)

DATE OF BIRTH: July 13, 1980
RESIDENCE: New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
OCCUPATION: defense consultant
EDUCATION: B.A., American Military University; A.A., Florida State College at Jacksonville
FAMILY: wife, Rana Al Saadi; two sons

• Republican Cory Mills defeated Democratic nominee Karen Green for Florida’s open 7th Congressional District, which became more Republican leaning after redistricting. 

Mills, a U.S. Army combat special operations veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was awarded a Bronze Star in 2006. He later became a Department of Defense adviser under former President Trump and has frequently appeared as a foreign policy expert on conservative cable stations.

With his wife, Mills co-founded PACEM Solutions, which provides law enforcement training and consulting and sells arms and riot gear. Several members of Congress raised concerns about the company providing tear gas used against demonstrators in 2020.

Mills responded to a news story about his company’s riot control sales with a defiant campaign video.

“If the media wants to shed some real tears, I can help them out with that,” Mills said.

— Emily Brooks

Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.-10)

DATE OF BIRTH: Jan. 17, 1997
RESIDENCE: Orlando, Fla.
OCCUPATION: community organizer
EDUCATION: high school diploma
FAMILY: single

• Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost will serve as the Democratic representative for Florida’s 10th Congressional District, replacing Rep. Val Demings (D).

At 25, Frost is the first Generation Z representative to serve in Congress.

Frost’s story traces back to the early 1960s, when his grandmother traveled to Miami from Cuba. There, she worked 70 hours a week in factory jobs to make ends meet. His mother, who had seven children, was caught in a cycle of drugs, violence and crime and lacked adequate health care and financial resources.

Frost, a community activist, is passionate about civil rights and has fought to end gun violence and uphold abortion rights.

In 2018, he helped pass major legislation with the American Civil Liberties Union to restore voting rights for Floridians with felony convictions.

Frost is passionate about progressive policies including Medicare for all and addressing climate change.

— Brad Dress

Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.-13)

DATE OF BIRTH: May 6, 1989
RESIDENCE: St. Petersburg, Fla.
OCCUPATION: activist
EDUCATION: B.S., University of West Florida
FAMILY: husband, Andy Gamberzky

• Republican Anna Paulina Luna won an open race in Florida’s 13th Congressional District on the Gulf Coast, defeating Democrat Eric Lynn.

Her midterm election success comes after she lost in the same district to former Rep. Charlie Crist (D) by 6 points in 2020. But the seat became more Republican leaning after redistricting, and Crist vacated the seat to run for governor.

Luna spent six years in the Air Force, where she met her husband, who is a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient.

Joining the military at age 19 was her way out of a tough low-income upbringing in Southern California. She was raised by a single mother who she says was pressured to have an abortion, and her father struggled with drug addiction.

Luna gained notice with her conservative commentary on social media and became national director of Hispanic engagement at conservative youth group Turning Point USA.

— Emily Brooks

Rep.-elect Laurel Lee (R-Fla.-15)

DATE OF BIRTH: March 1974
RESIDENCE: Tallahassee, Fla.
OCCUPATION: lawyer; former Florida secretary of state
EDUCATION: B.A., J.D., University of Florida
FAMILY: husband, Tom Lee; three children

• Republican Laurel Lee, who served as Florida’s secretary of state until earlier this year, defeated Democrat Alan Cohn in the battle to represent Florida’s newly redrawn 15th Congressional District, one of the most closely divided in the state.

Lee, who earned both her bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Florida, previously served as a federal prosecutor in Florida before then- Gov. Rick Scott (R) appointed her as a Hillsborough County circuit court judge in 2013.

She served for more than three years as Florida’s top elections official under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), but she stepped down from that post days before announcing her congressional bid. She overcame a crowded GOP primary field that included two Florida state lawmakers.

Her win added to a slew of GOP victories in the Tampa Bay area after a brutal redistricting process for Democrats. Republicans also managed to flip former Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D) St. Petersburg-area House seat. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) is the only remaining Democrat representing the region. 

— Max Greenwood

Rep.-elect Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.-23)

DATE OF BIRTH: Dec. 18, 1980
RESIDENCE: Parkland, Fla.
OCCUPATION: Broward County commissioner
EDUCATION: B.A., George Washington University; J.D., Nova Southeastern University
FAMILY: wife, Leah Moskowitz; two children

• Broward County Commissioner Jared Moskowitz beat Trump-aligned Republican Joe Budd to succeed retired Rep. Ted Deutch, holding Florida’s 23rd District for Democrats in a year that saw Republicans make gains in the Sunshine State.

Moskowitz, 41, has a long history of public service in Florida. He was elected to the Parkland City Commission in 2006, while he was still in law school, before winning a seat in the state House in 2012. In the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Moskowitz led the first successful effort in decades to pass a bipartisan gun violence prevention bill in the Florida Legislature.

He was tapped by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2019 to serve as the state’s director of emergency management, a position that saw him play a central role in Florida’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He left that post in May 2021, but he was appointed to the Broward County Commission by DeSantis months later.

— Max Greenwood