Wasserman Schultz wins Democratic nomination in Florida district with large Haitian population

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz won the Democratic nomination Tuesday for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, prevailing in a five-way primary that became a broader debate over Black political power and representation in a district with a significant Haitian-American population.

Wasserman Schultz’s victory came after Republicans redrew Florida’s congressional map earlier this year, pushing the longtime congresswoman across district lines and into a heavily Democratic Broward County seat.

She was the only white candidate in a field that also included four Black candidates: former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, progressive organizer and substitute teacher Elijah Manley, former 2 Live Crew rapper Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and real estate broker and former Pompano Beach mayor Dale Holness.

The new district is 42% Black, 23% Hispanic and 4% Asian, with white residents making up the remainder, according to Associated Press reporting. Its Black population includes a large Caribbean community, particularly Haitian Americans.

That composition made the primary especially significant in a part of Broward County that has helped send Black Democrats to Congress since 1992.

The result also closes, for now, another chapter in Cherfilus-McCormick’s political career. The Haitian American Democrat had represented Florida’s 20th Congressional District since winning a 2022 special election following the death of longtime Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Cherfilus-McCormick became the second Haitian American elected to Congress, after Mia Love of Utah, and emerged in office as a vocal advocate for policies affecting Haiti and Haitian Americans.

She resigned from Congress in April and sought to reclaim the seat in Tuesday’s primary.

Cherfilus-McCormick entered the race while facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using the money to support her 2021 congressional campaign. She has pleaded not guilty.

The Haitian Times reported in November that federal prosecutors alleged Cherfilus-McCormick and several co-defendants used the family health care company she once led to divert a $5 million overpayment from a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract.