Wasserman Schultz Faces Backlash Over District Election Move

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a seasoned Congressional Democrat, announced her candidacy for Florida’s District 20 following mid-decade redistricting. If successful, she will represent areas including southern Coral Springs, North Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Tamarac, and nearby cities.

Almost all Democratic National Committee members from Florida are opposing Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run in a district historically designed to represent Black voters but altered due to Governor Ron DeSantis’s recent redistricting.

“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,” the statement from 10 elected Florida DNC members declared.

The letter was signed by all but two of the party’s 11 non-officer, elected members, along with the Florida Democratic Party’s first vice chair, Daniel Henry.

The announcement followed Wasserman Schultz’s decision to contest in District 20 after DeSantis and the state Legislature modified South Florida’s congressional districts. This left just three Democratic-leaning districts in a region with five Democratic incumbents.

Wasserman Schultz, a Congress member for over two decades, opted for a safe Democratic seat where her victory in the general election seems highly probable. In contrast, surrounding districts were redrawn to favor Republicans.

She resides in Florida’s new 22nd District, spanning from Coral Springs to Marco Island. Her previous constituency was divided by the new maps, with only a fraction included in District 20.

Critics argue Wasserman Schultz moved her $2.5 million campaign fund to an easier, Democratic-friendly district to maintain her political influence.

“We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient,” expressed the Florida DNC members.

Wasserman Schultz dismissed these criticisms as political maneuvering by competitors. Black candidates have already expressed concerns about her intentions for the 20th District.

She maintained that the criticism is rooted in existing contenders for the position.

This statement from the DNC members is a significant condemnation within her own party, where Wasserman Schultz previously served as chair from 2011 to 2016.

In 1992, a federal judge established three Black-majority districts in Florida under the Voting Rights Act to ensure Black voters’ representation, resulting in the election of the state’s first Black congressional representatives since Reconstruction. District 20 was among these districts, initially represented by Alcee Hastings and more recently by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who recently resigned but is campaigning to return to Congress.

Governor DeSantis’s office specifically targeted District 20, according to his map drawer, anticipating the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which challenges the longstanding application of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Wasserman Schultz argues Broward County was the real focus of DeSantis’s efforts.

“Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump came in and intentionally tried to dismantle, or did dismantle Broward’s congressional districts to weaken Broward’s power,” she told the Herald, emphasizing her extended representation of Broward County and her suitability based on experience.

For Florida’s DNC members, Wasserman Schultz’s candidacy is part of a broader agenda targeting Black voters.

“This decision reinforces the same message Republicans have pushed for years: that Black representation does not matter,” they stated. “It does matter. Representation matters. Lived experience matters.”

Claire Heddles, the Miami Herald’s senior political correspondent, reports on these developments. She has previously covered national politics from Washington, D.C., and worked in public radio covering local issues in East Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida.