Debbie Wasserman Schultz Faces Criticism Over District Bid

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a longtime Congressional Democrat, has declared her candidacy for Florida’s District 20. This follows recent redistricting efforts midway through the decade. If elected, she would represent areas including southern Coral Springs, North Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Tamarac, and nearby cities.

The move has sparked condemnation from nearly all of Florida’s elected Democratic National Committee members. They criticize Wasserman Schultz’s decision to seek reelection in a district designed for Black voters’ representation, which is now targeted for redistricting by Governor Ron DeSantis. A group of 10 elected Florida DNC members, joined by the Florida Democratic Party’s first vice chair, Daniel Henry, issued a statement on Tuesday.

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 criticism follows Wasserman Schultz’s announcement to run in Florida’s 20th District after recent changes to congressional district boundaries in South Florida. Her choice to run in a safe blue district, where a Democrat is almost certain to win, rather than in newly Republican-favored districts, has fueled the backlash.

Wasserman Schultz resides in Florida’s newly drawn 22nd District, which spans from Coral Springs to Marco Island. Her previous constituency has been divided into five sections, with only a small portion included in the 20th District. Critics argue she aims to use her $2.5 million campaign fund to secure her political position in an easily winnable Democratic district.

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

In an interview with the Miami Herald, Wasserman Schultz dismissed criticism as stemming from political rivals. Black candidates have voiced concerns about her intentions for the 20th District.

The statement from the DNC members marks the strongest rebuke from within her party, where Wasserman Schultz previously held the role of chair from 2011 until 2016. Under the Voting Rights Act in 1992, a federal judge created three Black-majority districts in Florida. Florida’s 20th District, once represented by Alcee Hastings and recently by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned but plans to return, was among them.

Governor DeSantis focused on the 20th District, as revealed by his map drawer to state legislators, following a Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act as a tool to combat racial discrimination.

Wasserman Schultz rebuffed claims of exploiting an attack on Black voters, stating DeSantis targeted Broward County. She argued her longstanding representation of Broward justifies her continued leadership.

Florida’s DNC members see the decision as aligning with a broader effort against Black voters.

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

Claire Heddles, senior political correspondent for the Miami Herald, has covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C. She has also worked as a public radio reporter in East Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida.