In Florida’s August 18 Democratic primary election, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) will not run in the district where she lives. Instead, she will run in an historically Black district in Broward County, which includes the notoriously poor town of Belle Glade, Florida. Many African-American leaders across South Florida see little difference between Wasserman-Schultz and the racists who have tried to disenfranchise this district for decades. (We should note that this feeling of disenfranchisement is felt across much of Florida after Governor Ron DeSantis led the drive for his dirty redistricting plan).
Wasserman-Schultz is running against Elijah Manley, an African-American substitute teacher who posted on X, “Debbie Wasserman Schultz is carpetbagging to FL-20, a black opportunity district, instead of running in her own. DWS is everything that’s wrong with the Democratic establishment. From insider trading to payday lenders. I look forward to retiring her from public office permanently.”
Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), told Politico, “It’s a painful situation...[she] made a decision basically to run in a district where historically there’s been CBC representation, and I know that the community has been really disrupted by it.”
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) told NBC News, “I think that there are people that are very concerned, especially with the Black Caucus continuously being under attack.” Elijah Manley grew up homeless in the historic Sistruck neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. Manley’s campaign includes a call for universal healthcare, and “an economy where workers have rights, working families can thrive, and the wealthy pay their fair share.”
Wasserman-Schultz’s claim to fame was that in 2016 she was removed from the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after leaked internal DNC emails showed that she was attempting to rig the 2016 presidential election for Hilary Clinton.
