Weeks after resigning, Miramar congresswoman says she’s running for her old seat
Former Miramar Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned from Congress last month minutes before a vote to remove her over ethics violations, said at a Democratic meeting Monday night that she plans to run again for the seat she lost.
“The strongest candidate in the race is me,” Cherfilus-McCormick told reporters attending the May 11 Democratic town hall in Sunrise. “I never said I wasn’t running.”
Cherfilus-McCormick’s comeback announcement comes at a time when her former historically Black seat, Florida’s 20th Congressional District, has become a racial battleground following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new congressional map.
“There’s a fight across the South to make sure Black voices are not diluted and Black representation is preserved,” Cherfilus-McCormick told WPLG-10 and other reporters.
Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, appears to be leaning into that argument as the basis for her comeback following her resignation from Congress, as she faced possible expulsion over 25 ethics violations.
Next year, she faces a criminal trial in Miami. She was indicted in November, accused of stealing $5 million in FEMA funds intended for COVID-19 vaccine contracts and using part of the money to finance her first successful run for Congress in 2021.
Now, she is reentering an already-crowded race for her former seat, becoming the fifth candidate. Among those challenging her are former Miami rapper and activist Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness.
For many Democrats in central Broward, the race is shaping up as a debate over representation, redistricting and who should carry forward one of Florida’s most important Black-majority congressional districts.
The reshaped District 20 remains heavily Democratic and majority Black, but political tensions are rising over who should represent it next.
Although Cherfilus-McCormick stepped down April 21 amid ethics investigations and ongoing legal challenges, she has continued to insist the allegations against her remain unproven and says voters still want her to represent them.
Adding to the speculation is the possibility that longtime South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who also attended Monday night’s meeting, may run for District 20 after redistricting dramatically altered her current District 22.
Wasserman Schultz has not officially announced where she will run. But the possibility of her entering the race has sparked debate among Black political leaders and activists, some of whom argue that District 20, which borders Miramar, should continue to be represented by a Black member of Congress because of its history and demographics.
Members of the Broward Democratic Black Caucus have publicly urged Wasserman Schultz not to run there, the Miami Herald reported.
Wasserman Schultz told reporters she is consulting community leaders as she weighs her options. The filing deadline is June 12.
