Candidates for Florida's 20th congressional district faced off this week for the first time since the field was finalized on June 12.
The forum, hosted by the Urban League of Broward County, included Democratic candidates former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, Elijah Manley, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Also in attendance Wednesday night was Republican Candidate Rod Joseph.
The League said Democratic candidate Luther Campbell had confirmed his attendance, but did not show up.
Broward’s bluest seat has become one of the most contentious congressional races in the state after Wasserman Schultz entered the race when her congressional district, formerly Florida’s 25th, was fragmented into a number of Republican-leaning districts.
Wasserman Schultz's decision to enter the historically Black district angered and disappointed many Black leaders. The district has been represented by a Black congressperson since the late Alcee Hastings first won the seat in 1993. The district is 42% Black. Wasserman Schultz is white; her primary opponents are Black.
READ MORE: 'Representation matters': DNC members condemn Wasserman Schultz's run in historically-Black district
“ We have to acknowledge this is a Black access district. And if we erase the remedy, we're erasing the past, and that would lead us into a future that will destroy us. So everybody must talk about what is wrong at this time, having someone come into our district forum shopping,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in reference to Wasserman Schultz without mentioning her name.
Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Miramar, resigned from Congress in April only hours before the House was to formally discipline her as part of an ethics investigation into her use of campaign funds. She's also facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing the $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds.
Holness also avoided directly referencing Wasserman Schultz, but cited the “lived experience” of a Black person in the district,“ We can't separate ourselves as Americans as to who's white, who's Black, who's immigrant. But lived experience is critical also,” he said.
Manley, Wasserman Schultz’s fiercest attacker on the night, was more direct.
“ While the Republicans are trying their hardest to silence Black voices, I don't expect somebody in our own party, a white Democrat, to do the same,” he said. “ We are not going back to a time where there were no Black people in Congress.”
In response, Wasserman Schultz highlighted her experience. She is the most senior Democratic representative in South Florida, having been first elected in 2004. She serves on a number of influential committees including as a senior and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee and a co-chair of the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. She was recently nominated to the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“ It is absolutely certain that representation matters, and lived experience matters. But experience and making sure that you have someone who has the seniority and the seasoning to be able to deliver for a district, it matters as well,” she said.
Manley also attacked Wasserman Schultz for accepting political contributions, specifically in the insurance and energy sector Wasserman Schultz did not deny the allegations related to the insurance industry, but vehemently pushed back on the notion she accepted money from fossil fuel companies. In response, she touted her record of environmental protection.
“ Let me tell you what I've done to fight the fossil fuel industry. I passed an amendment prohibiting oil drilling in the Everglades. I passed amendments to make sure that we could ban offshore oil drilling around the entire coast of the state of Florida. I lead the fight on banning oil drilling every single year, and I have been successful in ensuring that we can protect Florida,” she said.
Manley claimed she has accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in fossil fuel PAC money, but according to OpenSecrets she accepted no money from fossil fuel PACs and just under $10,000 in donations from individuals in the petroleum refining sector in the 2024 election cycle.
Manley pledged to not trade stock while in Congress and not to accept corporate PAC money in his campaign.
The debate had heated exchanges, but ended civilly. Each candidate said they would support the winner of the Aug 20 primary, no matter who it was. Manley and Wasserman Schultz even shook hands after the debate.
The Broward County Democratic Black Caucus had told Wasserman Schultz to run in another district before she announced her campaign in FL-20. Its president Corey Shearer after the debate said that he felt vindicated for doing so. In reference to the black candidates, he said " we have everything here that we need."
Shearer said the organization would wait an additional five days after announcing its endorsements for all other races as a sign of their discontent with Wasserman Schultz's entry into the district.
In reference to Wasserman Schultz's district fracturing he offered an analogy. "If you are in school and someone hurts your sister, you would go over there and take care of her." But he said that her decision to run in FL-20 was like "your sister came into your classroom and hurt you."
