POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — A Florida Democratic primary that pits a veteran white congresswoman against a field of Black challengers is exposing deep divisions over racial representation and how the party responds to Republican-led redistricting efforts across the South.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has served in Congress for more than two decades and chaired the Democratic National Committee, is seeking re-election in the newly drawn 20th Congressional District after a redistricting plan signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed her previous seat into heavily Republican territory. The 20th District is a compact, heavily Democratic and majority-minority seat comprising the northwest communities around Fort Lauderdale.
The decision has prompted a backlash from the Congressional Black Caucus and local Democratic activists. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a member of the Black Caucus who could become speaker if Democrats win the majority in November, declined to endorse Wasserman Schultz despite the party’s usual practice of backing incumbents.
“It’s not being received very well,” Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York, the Congressional Black Caucus chair, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.
Ten of Florida’s 15 DNC members publicly condemned Wasserman Schultz’s decision, writing in a statement that “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.”
Wasserman Schultz, the first Jewish congresswoman in Florida history, said she consulted more than 100 Broward County community leaders before deciding to run in the 20th District. She argues that Republicans aimed to dilute Democratic influence in the county and that her experience and seniority — she sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee — make her the strongest advocate for the district.
“Running in this district is all about making sure that this district has the most experienced, seasoned voice that can deliver for them immediately,” Wasserman Schultz said in an interview. “Representation matters, and experience matters as well.”
Her internal polling, released to the press, showed her with more than 50% support in the crowded field. At the end of March, she had about $2.5 million in her campaign account.
A field of four Black candidates is challenging her in the Aug. 18 primary. Dale Holness, a former Broward County commissioner and mayor who lost the 2021 primary for the seat by five votes, said he urged Wasserman Schultz to run in the new GOP-leaning 22nd District, where she has long kept a home, but she declined.
“Dale, it’s not personal,” Holness recalled Wasserman Schultz telling him. Holness, who is Black and had already launched his campaign, responded: “It might not be, but we’re destroying the party. A lot of people in the community are angry.”
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who won the seat in a 2022 special election after the death of longtime Rep. Alcee Hastings, resigned in April amid federal charges that she stole millions of dollars in government funds. She called the investigation a “witch hunt” and is running again while facing a trial expected next year.
Luther Campbell, the former frontman of the rap group 2 Live Crew who fought obscenity charges in a landmark First Amendment case, is running as an outsider. “In this race, people are fed up with the career politicians,” Campbell said.
Elijah Manley, a 27-year-old teacher and activist, had been challenging Cherfilus-McCormick since February 2025 and has raised about $780,000. He aligns himself with progressive figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
At local events over the Juneteenth weekend, Wasserman Schultz sought to demonstrate her ties to the community. A mobile mammogram center she helped fund was parked near the festival. During a Caribbean-themed celebration in Tamarac, she recalled traveling to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. At a Sunday church service with gay and lesbian voters, she highlighted her work securing HIV/AIDS funding.
Corey Shearer, who leads the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus, said the community has viewed Wasserman Schultz as an ally but she has represented a mostly suburban district during her career. “Debbie does not represent our values,” Shearer said. “She doesn’t have our shared experiences.”
John Beckford, a Broward business leader who is Black and was raised in Jamaica, said Wasserman Schultz has “always been a part of the African-American, Black community, the Caribbean community. It’s not like she’s now a stranger trying to make herself known.”
Willie Cameron, 73, of Pompano Beach, who was among dozens of Black voters at the Juneteenth festival attended by the congresswoman, said he remained undecided. He likened Wasserman Schultz to a neighbor and the other candidates to an uncle: “It’s sort of like, ‘You’re my uncle and you’re my neighbor.’ I’m going to feel more comfortable with my uncle than my neighbor.”
The 20th District was represented for three decades by Hastings, who in 1992 was among the first Black Americans elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction. Wasserman Schultz calls Hastings, who died in 2021, her mentor. The seat has been vacant since Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation.
The contest is one of several Democratic primaries across the South complicated by Republican redistricting after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened Voting Rights Act protections. Florida’s new congressional map, signed by DeSantis and upheld by the state Supreme Court, reshaped districts across the state, reducing the number of Democratic-leaning seats.