Politics

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Announces Run For Mainly Black District With Obama Poster In Background

Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Friday morning that she is now seeking reelection in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.

Currently representing Florida’s 25th Congressional District, Wasserman Schultz announced the move in a video statement posted to X with a poster of former President Barack Obama visible in the background. She stated in the social media post that she intends to “continue to use my seniority in Washington to make Broward a safer, less expensive place to live, raise a family, and retire.” 

“I’ve fought for the people of Broward County my whole adult life, and you’ve always been able to count on me to deliver results for our community,” Wasserman Schultz said in a news release. “And I’ve waged these battles when our values were on the line, all while still raising a family, beating cancer, and answering President Barack Obama’s call to lead our national party.”

Wasserman Schultz is running in the heavily Democratic Broward County after state Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting made her current district more favorable to the GOP, Politico reported.

“Debbie Wasserman Schultz is abandoning her home district because she knows she was headed for defeat in a seat President Trump won by double digits,” National Republican Congressional Committee Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said Friday in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Instead of facing voters after years of backing Democrats’ failed agenda, Wasserman Schultz is running scared and handing Republicans a prime pickup opportunity.”

Former Democratic Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick had previously represented the state’s 20th Congressional District before abruptly resigning from Congress in April after being found guilty of multiple ethics violations over campaign finance laws. The House seat has long been regarded as a stronghold for black representation in the state, according to WUSF.

The newly redrawn 20th district was 45% black at the 2020 Census, according to data from Dave’s Redistricting App.

Some black candidates and Democratic Party leaders in the district have argued that a well-funded white Democrat entering the congressional race could further diminish black political power, The Miami Herald reported on May 12.

In July 2016, Wasserman Schultz announced that she would step down Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair after leaked internal DNC emails revealed officials had shown overt favoritism toward Hillary Clinton during her primary contest with Bernie Sanders, The Guardian reported.