Florida’s Black and Democratic National Committee (DNC) politicians are condemning the decision of White fellow Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz to run for a U.S. House seat representing the state’s 20th Congressional district.
“As Florida DNC members, we condemn Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run in FL-20, a historically Black and majority-Black congressional district,” 10 of the state DNC’s 15 members wrote last week in a racially-charged statement:
“Our party cannot credibly denounce the dismantling of Black political power by Republicans while treating one of Florida’s few remaining majority-Black districts as a political opportunity for an incumbent seeking a safer seat. We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient.”
Likewise, the Florida Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement saying Wasserman Schultz’s “decision to pursue reelection in this historically Black district, despite explicit requests from the Black community to seek candidacy in a neighboring district, is disheartening.”
Wasserman Schultz’s CD-20 candidacy is also opposed by the president of the Broward Black Democratic caucus, the president of the Fort Lauderdale/Broward branch of the NAACP and the state Legislature’s Black caucus.
Wasserman Schultz announced her candidacy for Florida’s 20th district (CD-20) after Florida Republicans successfully redrew the state’s Congressional map, which split the Democrat congresswoman’s current district, the 25th, into five different districts.
While the redrawn map may increase Republican representation in Florida, it also boosts the concentration of minority and Democrat voters in CD-20, which would practically ensure a win for either Wasserman Schultz or one of the Democrat opponents seeking to represent her party in November.
Black Democrat Elijah Manley, who is also vying for the CD-20 Florida seat, has gone so far as to accuse his White competitor of “carpetbagging” in a social media post:
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz is carpetbagging to FL-20, a black opportunity district instead of running in her own.
“DWS is everything that’s wrong with the Democratic establishment. From insider trading to payday lenders.”
“I look forward to retiring her from public office permanently,” Manley added.
Nonetheless, being White hasn’t hurt Wasserman Schutz’s popularity in the majority-minority 20th district, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes, citing recent poll findings:
“The poll found that Wasserman Schultz, who is white, has higher favorability among African American and Caribbean American Democrats in the 20th Congressional District than she has among white voters. Black voters’ views increase her overall favorability among Democrats to 80%.”
CD-20 has had a Black representative for more than 30 years – but, the last, Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from office in April amid congressional and federal probes for allegedly mishandling disaster relief funding for personal gain.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s decision to resign from office came right before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to recommend she be punished for misusing disaster relief funding that she allegedly funneled through several companies into her campaign coffers.
Still awaiting trial for allegedly stealing $5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after indictment by a Miami grand jury, Cherfilus-McCormick was later found by the House Ethics Committee to have committed 18 campaign finance violations, five counts of false financial disclosures, three counts of misusing official funds and one count of lack of candor.
Despite her scandals, Cherfilus-McCormick is running against Wasserman Schultz in hopes of returning to the CD-20 House seat she resigned from as the Democrat candidate in November’s elections.
For their part, Florida's American-American voters and voters of Caribbean descent are unfazed by the prospect of having Wasserman Schultz represent their district, Florida Politics notes:
“Asked about an argument that several CD 20 candidates, Democrats and Black leaders have made, that Wasserman Schultz step aside so a Black person can continue to represent the district, 41% of respondents say it will have no effect on their choice. Another 41% say such a statement makes them more inclined to support her.
Of the 16% who say the issue makes them less likely to back her, most — 83% — cite a preexisting support for another candidate.”
