A long-time Democratic congresswoman appears set to serve another term in the U.S. House after winning a Florida Democratic primary Tuesday. But her victorious primary campaign has been controversial, with many criticizing the white Democrat for moving into a predominantly Black district in order to continue her congressional career in the face of Republican-led redistricting in the state. And the situation has produced criticism for Black leaders in Congress for siding with a white representative against several Black candidates.
Wasserman Schultz defeats Black candidates after shifting to predominantly Black district
HuffPost reported that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz won the U.S. House Democratic primary for Florida’s 20th District. Wasserman Schultz currently represents Florida’s 25th District, which was recently carved up in a wave of Republican-led gerrymandering designed to elect more GOP members of Congress. The shift in her current district from Democratic-leaning to Republican-leaning led to Wasserman Schultz shifting her campaign to run in the neighboring 20th District. Her decision was controversial, given that Wasserman Schultz is white and the 20th District is plurality Black and has been represented by Black politicians for over 30 years, a streak that is set to end as Wasserman Schultz’s primary victory sets her as the heavy favorite to win the predominantly Democratic 20th District in November.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz won Tuesday’s primary against a slate of four Black candidates, including political activist Elijah Manley, former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness and 2-Live Crew frontman Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell. Also running in the primary was former congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who previously represented the 20th District but resigned earlier this year while facing expulsion from Congress in light of outstanding federal fraud charges against her. As Blavity previously reported, the other candidates in the race met this summer and discussed the possibility of consolidating behind one of them in order to defeat Wasserman Schultz. In the end, this idea never came to fruition, and now Wasserman Schultz is set to end over three decades of Black representation for the district.
Democratic Party divided over Wasserman Schultz’s campaign in Black district
Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run in the predominantly Black district was controversial among voters and divisive within the Democratic Party. Her move has been scrutinized more heavily as it comes amid Republican-led racial gerrymandering that threatens to cause up to one third of the current members of the Congressional Black Caucus to lose their seats in November’s elections. Within Florida, her decision to run in the 20th District was condemned by the Florida Legislative Black Caucus and by most of the elected members of the Florida Democratic National Committee. On the national level, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) declined to endorse any candidate in the Florida primary race. However, Wasserman Schultz did receive endorsements from other key congressional figures, including former Congressional Black Caucus Chair, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, as well as the former House Majority Leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
Hoyer called Wasserman Schultz “Florida’s probably most valuable member,” and her campaign emphasized her experience and connections, which includes a former stint as Chair of the Democratic National Committee, her current position as a co-chair of the Democratic Steering Committee and her seniority within the Appropriations Committee. Hoyer also called Wasserman Schultz a “fighter for civil rights,” and her campaign emphasized her ability to deliver for diverse communities while standing up to President Trump and Republicans. In a statement released after her primary victory, Wasserman Schultz declared that “our campaign galvanized an unstoppable coalition of energized congregations, unions, LGBTQ+ advocates and proud Black, Caribbean and Hispanic communities, and we did it in the face of a rushed, brazenly illegal Republican gerrymander.”
Barring a major surprise, Wasserman Schultz should win November’s general election, which will send her back to Congress, this time to represent the predominantly Black 20th District of Florida. While her track record and experience suggest she will be an effective Democratic member of Congress, her move into the 20th District has raised unresolved questions about the value that the Democratic Party assigns to Black politicians and the importance of having representation that looks like and identifies with the community being represented.