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.

Cherfilus-McCormick denied the allegations, calling the indictment “unjust” and “baseless,” and said she was innocent.

The charges followed years of questions surrounding her campaign finances and congressional ethics inquiries.

Her political rise had itself been closely tied to the Haitian-American community in South Florida. In the crowded 2021 special-election Democratic primary to replace Hastings, Cherfilus-McCormick prevailed after a recount by five votes.

That race drew several Haitian American candidates in a district with a substantial Haitian American population.

Redistricting reshapes the district

The 2026 contest took shape after President Donald Trump began urging Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts to help protect the party’s narrow House majority.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded with a map that grouped southeast Florida Democrats more tightly together, with the aim of reducing five Democratic seats to three.

Broward County, Florida’s most Democratic county, was left with one presumed-Democratic district anchored in and around Fort Lauderdale.

The redistricting pushed Wasserman Schultz out of the district she had represented and presented her with a choice: run in a newly configured home district stretching toward the more conservative Gulf Coast or seek election in the new 20th.

She chose the 20th.

That decision became one of the central issues of the campaign.

Cherfilus-McCormick argued before the primary that Wasserman Schultz’s entry into the race threatened the area’s history of Black political representation.

Manley made a similar argument, saying Republican redistricting was not Wasserman Schultz’s fault but that she had other options.

The race unfolded as the Congressional Black Caucus warned that redistricting could cost it more than a quarter of its 60-plus members this fall.

It also followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened Voting Rights Act protections underpinning minority voting strength and cleared the way for states including Florida to reshape congressional districts.

What representation means

Wasserman Schultz rejected arguments that she was an outsider to the communities in the new district.

She said she had represented broad sections of Broward County during three decades as a state and federal lawmaker and could serve constituents across racial and cultural lines.

“I’m not air dropping myself into this district,” she told the AP before the primary.

Wasserman Schultz also pointed to her position on the House Appropriations Committee and programs affecting Black communities that she helped create and fund during her years in office.

She said that while lived experience matters, voters can also consider a candidate’s broader experience and record of delivering for constituents.

Her opponents argued that those qualifications did not fully answer concerns about losing Black representation at a time when voting rights and diversity initiatives are under pressure nationally.

Broward NAACP President Marsha Ellison told the AP before the election that the redistricting effort was designed to diminish Black political power and representation by people who understand the community’s lived experiences.

The debate carried particular resonance for Haitian Americans.

Cherfilus-McCormick had described efforts against her as an attempt to silence what she called the only Haitian voice in Congress. During her tenure, she frequently spoke on Haiti-related issues and condemned misinformation and hate directed at Haitian immigrants.

But her indictment and other legal and ethical controversies complicated her effort to return to office.

Wasserman Schultz’s victory now positions a white Democrat to represent a district where Black residents make up the largest racial group.

An AP analysis found that she was the only white Democrat positioned going into November to represent any of the remaining congressional districts where Black residents constitute a majority or plurality.

The primary result answers who Democratic voters chose to represent the district in November.

The larger question that shaped the campaign — whether representation is defined principally by shared identity and lived experience or by a lawmaker’s record, relationships and ability to deliver for constituents — remains unsettled.

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