With 83-year-old Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson’s announcement she won't seek re-election in November, state Sen. Shevrin Jones has emerged as the likely front-runner for the seat.
Jones, who just announced last week he won’t seek re-election to the Florida Senate, opened up about his decision and his political future in an interview Friday with WLRN’s The South Florida Roundup.
Jones did not say he was going to run for the seat being vacated by Wilson but instead focused on his decision not to return to the Legislature.
"I have spent the last 13 years in the Legislature, which has been an absolute pleasure championing the work that I have," Jones said. "Yet me resigning at this point in time was to give an opportunity for somebody else to continue the work that we have started in Tallahassee and someone who will continue to work in this district."
Only one candidate has formally announced running for Wilson's congressional seat: Rudolph Moise, a physician who has previously run unsuccessfully for Congress.
READ MORE: U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson announces she won't seek reelection to her seat in Congress
Jones currently represents Florida State Senate District 34— the largest Black district in the state — where he has built a strong reputation for navigating partisan divides in a legislature controlled and dominated by Republicans.
He was first elected to the state Senate in 2020, and served in the state House from 2012-2020.
If he decides to run for the 24th Congressional district, which spans north Miami-Dade and south Broward counties, he would likely face other Democrats in a competitive primary. The seat is one of the few seats in South Florida heavily favoring a Democrat.
" I've always said that I will go as far as the people will take me," Jones said.
"We [Democrats] have to continue to work with [House Minority] Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries. We'll continue to work with my Democratic colleagues in each state to make sure that we are collaborating on what it means to bring relief and affordability to the state and to our communities."
Democrats in Florida and elsewhere face a challenging election season as part of the national redistricting battle that President Donald Trump launched ahead of this year’s midterms.
Last month, the Florida Legislature approved a new congressional map intended to maximize Republicans’ advantage in the state. The vote came just two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his proposal and the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that limits the influence of nonwhite voters.
DeSantis’ map could increase Republicans’ advantage in Florida’s House delegation to 24 to 4, up from the current split of 20 to 8.
The new map reshaped districts in largely Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and in South Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The changes cost U.S. Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others, their seats.
Wilson's seat, the 24th congressional district, is among only four statewide considered "solid Democrat," according to ratings by the non-partisan Cook Political Report, meaning that the winner of the Democratic primary in August is almost certain to win in the general election in November.
To hear the full interview with Senator Shevrin Jones, listen to the May 29th episode of WLRN's South Florida Roundup with host Tim Padgett, available on WLRN or wherever you get your podcasts.
