Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has filled two vacancies on the Broward County Commission.
Speaking at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday, DeSantis said he was naming former director of the state's Division of Emergency Management Jared Moskowitz and chief of staff for the state's Department of Transportation Torey Alston to the commission.
Moskowitz, 40, is from Coral Springs and previously served on the Parkland City Commission.
He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 until 2019, when DeSantis appointed him director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
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Moskowitz, a Democrat, stepped down earlier this year, saying he was tired of being away from his wife and two children, who stayed in Broward County while he spent much of his time in the state's capital city of Tallahassee.
He said he spent months away from home at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to help with the state's response.
“I spent a tremendous amount of time away from them. My family quarantined without me in the beginning of the pandemic without me for months,” Moskowitz said after submitting his resignation to the governor.
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Moskowitz takes over the District 8 seat, previously held by Barbara Sharief, who stepped down to run for Florida's 20th Congressional District this year.
Alston is also from Broward County and attended Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach.
He served as Broward County's chief of staff from 2010 to 2013, and has been chief of staff for the Florida Department of Transportation since 2019.
Alston will take over the District 9 seat, which was held by Dale Holness, who also ran in the Democratic primary for the 20th Congressional District this year and narrowly lost.
