Peggy Gossett-Seidman aims to fend off better-funded challenger Jay Shooster in HD 91

Two years after she flipped the long-blue seat representing House District 91 in Palm Beach County red, Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman faces Jay Shooster, a better-funded Democratic challenger who aims to make her a one-term lawmaker.

It could be a close contest.

HD 91 covers a southern portion of Palm Beach County including Boca Raton and parts of Highland Beach and West Boca. Previously a dependable Democratic stronghold, the district grew more conservative after redistricting in 2022.

Gossett-Seidman, 71, won that year by 3.5 percentage points on a red wave that delivered the district to Gov. Ron DeSantis by 9.2 points, according to MCI Maps.

Since then, the district has shifted even more rightward and today, Republicans account for 35% of the district’s voter base and Democrats make up 32%, with third- and no-party voters comprising the remainder.

Shooster, 34, is spending big to turn the tide in his first run at public office. By Oct. 29, one week before Election Day, he had poured close to $850,000 into the race — well over three times what Gossett-Seidman raised in the cycle. He’s gone on the attack with messaging, particularly about the incumbent’s record on abortion and firearms. And his hypervigilance against campaign interloping may have revealed his opponent’s camp is nervous about chances.

Gossett-Seidman has strong accomplishments on which to run for re-election. She passed eight bills in her first two years in Tallahassee, including a bipartisan measure to unseal grand jury testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein case that attracted national headlines.

She passed another bill to protect voters from errantly having their voting registration changed while renewing their driver’s licenses and another bipartisan bill called the “Safe Waterways Act” to streamline contamination reporting. DeSantis vetoed the latter.

She also secured $12.3 million in appropriations for HD 91, crediting constituents in the district for providing her with the information she needs to deliver for them. It’s an approach she’s strengthened over many years, first as a trailblazing sports journalist and later as a four-year member of the Highland Beach Town Council.

Shooster, a consumer protections and animal welfare lawyer, may be new to running for elected office, but he’s hardly a political neophyte. He fought in court against deceptive marketing by food companies and volunteered with the Anti-Defamation League and the Moms Demand Action gun control group.

He’s running a pro-abortion rights, pro-gun control campaign. He says Florida needs to “get creative” in attracting insurers back to the state while lowering the cost of housing and other common expenditures. His platform also prioritizes protections for the LGBTQ community, expanding voter access and environmental protections.

He said Florida should “lead the way” in publicly investing in technology, including “alternative proteins” that replace traditional animal-based products and artificial intelligence. Shooster is an artificial intelligence policy fellow at Florida Atlantic University.

Shooster has criticized Gossett-Seidman for her comment supporting Florida’s prior ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which included no exceptions for rape or incest, and for backing the state’s concessions to insurers.

Notably, Gossett-Seidman voted “no” on the state’s current six-week abortion ban.

Shooster also attacked her in ads and social media posts for voting in favor of a law allowing the concealed carry of firearms without a permit. Gossett-Seidman defended her vote, arguing that the only people the prior permit requirement inconvenienced were law-abiding citizens who should be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights unabated.

Gossett-Seidman, a 30-year Highland Beach resident, raised close to $250,000 this cycle and had about $40,000 left on Oct. 29. An overwhelming share of her contributions came from Florida residents, companies and political interests, most of which are based on Palm Beach County.

Many big businesses gave to her campaign, including Florida Crystals, U.S. Sugar, HCA Healthcare, Walt Disney World, Florida Blue, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Comcast, Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light.

Twenty or so union and advocacy organizations have endorsed her, including the National Federation of Independent Business, Associated Industries of Florida, Teach FL, several police and firefighter unions, and several chambers of commerce.

Her former employer, the Palm Beach Post, has endorsed her. And she carries abundant in-party support; her campaign kickoff in May featured close to 50 notable Republican pols, and the Florida GOP and its Palm Beach County extension have provided her with ample monetary and in-kind aid.

Shooster, who grew up in Broward, raised $895,000 and spent all but $48,000 of it by Oct. 29. A significant chunk of his gains came from out-of-state donors, many of them members of the effective altruism movement with which he’s long been involved. Effective altruism has been billed as a more data-driven approach to improving the world, and many of its adherents pursue lucrative professions in order to donate large portions of their earnings to charities, political causes and candidates based on the goal of maximizing their positive impact.

He carries endorsements from U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel and Jared Moskowitz, state Sens. Lori Berman and Tina Polsky — both of whom teamed with Gossett-Seidman on Legislation last Session — and a passel of advocacy and union groups like SEIU Florida, the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO, Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association and Equality Florida Action PAC.

Disagreeing with its competitor, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is also backing Shooster.

The General Election is on Nov. 5.