Brent Andersen

Andersen says he was raised in a middle-class family, the son of a public school teacher and a union asbestos worker.[2] He earned a high school diploma from Saint John's High School and, according to Ballotpedia, a bachelor's degree from Nichols College in 2000; he says the degree is a B.S. in Finance.[2] He says he founded Pilgrim Bay Insurance Agency in 2010, a commercial brokerage serving New England and Southeast Florida, and Ballotpedia lists his career as insurance broker.[2]

Andersen describes himself as a lifelong Republican who spent two decades in party leadership roles and held gubernatorial appointments in higher education and state finance.[2] He won the August 18, 2026 Republican primary with 53.8% of the vote, ahead of Rod Joseph, Carla Spalding and Lateresa Jones.[2] During the campaign, he said he was running on lowering property insurance costs and the cost of living.[2] He received 21.7% of the vote to Debbie Wasserman Schultz's 74.4%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1] He says he lives in Pompano Beach with his wife, Yula, and their young daughter, and he lists endorsements from the Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald and the Log Cabin Republicans PAC.[2]