Oliver Larkin

Oliver Adams Larkin is an American political organizer, digital strategist, and Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed congressional candidate from South Florida. Born on July 4 in Monterey, California, and raised in Fort Lauderdale, he got his start volunteering for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. Larkin later challenged incumbent Jared Moskowitz for the Democratic nomination in Florida’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District.

Oliver Larkin – Bio/Wiki

Oliver Larkin Early Life and Background

Oliver Adams Larkin was born on July 4 in Monterey, California, and grew up mainly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His father was a retired Army officer, and Larkin has described a childhood shaped by military family values around service and discipline. He attended Pine Crest School before finishing high school at Phillips Exeter Academy.

College life took him to Sewanee, The University of the South, where he studied English and history and played football. After graduating, he worked a minimum-wage line-cook job and later took an advertising internship in Miami that paid too little to live on. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential run pulled him toward organizing instead of a conventional career path.

Oliver Larkin Education

Larkin earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and History from Sewanee, The University of the South, after finishing his college-prep years at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Oliver Larkin’s Family

Oliver Larkin grew up in a military family, and his father’s Army career shaped much of his early sense of discipline and service. He returned to South Florida in 2022 with his wife, Sandra, who has worked for the environmental group Vote Solar and previously for the Latina Institute.

Family still shapes how Larkin talks about his politics. He’s said his parents instilled values around service, education, hard work, and integrity, themes he returns to often when explaining why he left a stable career for political organizing.

Oliver Larkin Personal Life

Larkin describes himself as a “cat dad” in his public bio, a detail that softens his otherwise combative political image. He has also been described in profiles as a drag-show enthusiast, a detail reporters have used to paint him as culturally progressive beyond his economic platform.

Larkin has said that working inside mainstream Democratic politics left him feeling pressured to compromise his views just to keep a job, particularly on Israel and Gaza policy. That frustration became part of why he built his 2026 campaign around an unapologetic democratic socialist identity rather than a more cautious, centrist message.

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Oliver Larkin Career

Larkin’s political career began after he left a line-cook job and an underpaid Miami advertising internship to volunteer for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. He drove to New Hampshire without guaranteed pay, worked his way up from volunteer to running the campaign’s Portsmouth field office, and went on to organize in several other states. That early experience became the origin story he leans on throughout his political career.

After 2016, Larkin moved into digital political strategy, working as a senior strategist for firms including Revolution Messaging and Trippi Norton Rossmeissi, and later for Authentic, where he helped raise close to $1.7 million in a single day during the first Trump impeachment. He also helped unionize his own workplace at Revolution Messaging with the NewsGuild-CWA. In 2025, he became principal of his own firm, Mountaintop Strategy, before launching his congressional campaign.

But the campaign became the defining chapter. Larkin announced his U.S. House run in 2025, first in Florida’s 23rd District and then in the newly redrawn 25th District after redistricting forced a shift. He challenged incumbent Jared Moskowitz for the Democratic nomination on a platform built around Medicare for All, a $25 federal minimum wage, abolishing ICE, and ending U.S. military aid to Israel, earning endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America, Nina Turner, and several South Florida Democratic Black Caucuses along the way.

Oliver Larkin’s Campaign Fundraising

Federal Election Commission filings put Larkin’s campaign receipts at roughly $541,945 through June 30, 2026, against about $348,967 in spending and around $192,977 in cash on hand. His campaign separately announced figures showing more than $1 million raised, a number that reflects campaign reporting rather than independent verification. His operation rejected corporate PAC money throughout the race, relying on individual donations instead.

Oliver Larkin Public Profile