Jesse Scheckner
The race to replace Rep. Chip LaMarca in House District 100 has its first entrant.
Lawyer and U.S. Army Reserve Cpt. Yoni Anijar filed paperwork this month to run for the seat that LaMarca, a fellow Republican, must vacate in 2026 due to term limits.
Anijar said his diverse legal career and military service make him especially suited to public office and have equipped him with “the effectiveness needed to combat the woke and bring home real results for constituents.”
“The last four years under the Biden-Harris administration have hurt so many American families with soaring inflation, open borders, and unchecked indoctrination in our public schools. This is our time to fight back,” he said.
“It is also critical that we have as many Republicans as possible in the Florida Legislature who are committed to President Donald Trump’s America First plan to get our country back on track. That’s why I’m running for this seat.”
Backing GOP-led policy proposals isn’t likely to be a tall task for Anijar, should he win next year. Republicans hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers — including a 73% share of the House and a 70% share of the Senate — and every Cabinet position.
And Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, appointed five of the Florida Supreme Court’s seven members, including Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz.
HD 100, which spans a coastal swath of South Florida from Fort Lauderdale north to Deerfield Beach, is something of an outlier. It’s the only House district fully within Broward County controlled by Republicans.
LaMarca, who previously served as a Broward County Commissioner, has held the seat since 2018. He won re-election in November with 57.5% of the vote, giving LaMarca his best state-level margin of victory yet.
Anijar, 33, is a first-generation American. His parents immigrated from Israel and became entrepreneurs, a press note from his campaign said.
In keeping with his history, Anijar named his New York City-headquartered law firm First Gen Law.
He’s no newcomer to the legislative process. Between 2011 and 2014, he completed three internships in the Florida House and Congress. In addition to working for several law firms in Florida, New York, Israel and Washington, D.C., he worked as corporate counsel for Experian and Tapad, an ad-tech company specializing in cross-device mapping and digital identity resolution.
His law firm bio says he is licensed to practice law in Florida, New York and Texas, and specializes in financial services, tech, health care and cryptocurrency legal matters. His campaign says he provides outside General Counsel for the firm and assists with risk mitigation strategies and regulatory compliance.
Anijar earned his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in 2016. He holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Florida.
He’s served as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer with the U.S. Army Reserve since April 2022, according to his LinkedIn page. The Florida Bar Association lists Anijar as a member of its Government Advocacy Committee and Military & Veterans Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the organization’s Young Lawyers section.
State records show Anijar was a registered Democrat until 2022, when he briefly registered as a member of the Independent Party before signing on with the GOP. He made $26 worth of federal-level donations to Democratic causes in 2016, according to the Federal Election Commission. This past November, he gave the Republican fundraising platform, WinRed, $47 less than two weeks after Trump won the presidency.
The 2026 Primary is on Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
