‘Representation matters’: Majority of Florida’s DNC members slam Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s CD 20 run
Under Gov. DeSantis' new map, Florida's longest-serving Democratic Congresswoman is running in a Black plurality district.
Two-thirds of
Florida’s members on the Democratic National Committee issued a lengthy statement condemning Democratic U.S. Rep.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz for running in a plurality Black district.
The statement was issued by 10 DNC members, including
Daniel Henry, Vice Chair of the
Florida Democratic Party. Other members signing onto the statement include
Alan Clendenin,
Juan Cuba,
Millie Herrera,
Samantha Herring,
Lydia Hudson,
Allison Minnerly,
Judy Mount, Sean Shaw and
Samuel Vilchez Santiago.
“As Florida DNC members, we condemn Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run in FL-20, a historically Black and majority-Black congressional district,” the statement reads.
“At a time when the Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act, when Black representation across the South is under coordinated attack, and when Florida Republicans have aggressively dismantled Black political power through redistricting, 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.”
Gov.
Ron DeSantis’ Office proposed a
“race-neutral” map that took apart a configuration of Florida’s 20th Congressional District largely in place since the mid-1990s. That map also complexly dismantled a district currently represented by Wasserman Schultz, who announced
on Friday she would run in the newly drawn CD 20.
In an extensive interview with Florida Politics, Wasserman Schultz said she was upset at the attack on a traditionally Black district but also felt it was important to run there to preserve Broward County’s
clout and power in Congress.
Under the new lines, CD 20 is no longer a majority Black seat but remains 42.8% Black.
“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 DNC members reads.
“We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient.”
