TAMARAC, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is campaigning for her 12th congressional term by running in a newly drawn district, a move that has sparked an uncomfortable political fight and intense debate over political representation in South Florida Apnews. The redrawing of Florida’s congressional map by Republicans pushed the 59-year-old lawmaker across district lines from her Fort Lauderdale exurb, positioning her as the sole white candidate in a Broward County area that has elected Black Democrats to Congress since 1992.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Faces Backlash After Moving Into Florida’s Newly Drawn 20th District
The boundary changes followed map adjustments in Republican-run states after actions by President Donald Trump to help preserve the party’s House majority. According to The Guardian, the Republican redistricting process broke Wasserman Schultz’s previous seat into five separate shards. While voters go to the polls for Tuesday’s Florida primaries, the decision by the former national party chair and Democratic National Committee leader has drawn sharp criticism from African American leaders and fellow candidates in Florida’s 20th congressional district.
Challenging the Establishment in Florida’s 20th District
Wasserman Schultz enters the primary as by far the best-funded candidate among five Democrats running in the district, and she benefits from Florida rules that do not require a candidate to secure a majority to win a primary Apnews. However, her candidacy has drawn a multi-candidate challenge, including a primary bid by 27-year-old progressive organizer and substitute teacher Elijah Manley. Manley, who is Black and grew up homeless in Fort Florida, received an endorsement from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
Manley criticized Wasserman Schultz’s decision to cross district lines rather than run in her new home district on the more conservative Gulf coast. Instead, she stabbed us in the back, trying to take away Black representation,
Manley said, referencing warnings from the Congressional Black Caucus that it could lose more than a quarter of its 60-plus members. Manley also pointed to past controversies surrounding Wasserman Schultz, including her resignation as DNC chair during the 2016 presidential primary following leaked emails suggesting bias toward Hillary Clinton.
A poll conducted in May by the Listener Group indicated that Manley could pose a serious challenge, moving ahead of Wasserman Schultz 36% to 27% after voters were provided basic biographical information according to The Guardian. In addition to Manley and Wasserman Schultz, the primary field features former U.S.
Debate Over Representation in Majority-Minority Districts
The primary contest has brought national attention to questions of racial representation and shifting demographics. The newly formed Florida 20th district is 42% Black, 23% Hispanic, and 4% Asian, with the remaining population white, including a substantial Caribbean population featuring Haitian Americans.
Defending her campaign, Wasserman Schultz emphasized her extensive legislative history representing wide swaths of Broward County across three decades as both a state and federal lawmaker. I’m not air dropping myself into this district,
she told the Associated Press. I have represented diverse communities. I know how to tailor my service to them and represent a district more broadly.
Local leaders, however, have voiced deep concerns over the displacement of minority representation.
