Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is projected to win a special election to replace late Rep. Alcee Hastings in a heavily blue-leaning district of the Sunshine State.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who campaigned on voting for a $1,000 universal basic income (UBI), beat out Republican candidate Jason Mariner by a whopping margin of 78 percent, though this comes as little surprise. The 20th district, which Cherfilus-McCormick campaigned in, includes most of the majority-black neighborhoods in and around Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
Cherfilus-McCormick won the party’s nomination by the narrowest of margins, which all but guaranteed that she would be sent to the House in the blue stronghold.
After a hand recount of the primary votes, it was determined that Cherfilus-McCormick would edge out Democratic challenger and Broward County Supervisor Dale Holness by only five votes.
Cherfilus-McCormick ran her campaign on a slew of progressive policies and promises.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who will be the first member of Congress of Haitian descent according to the Haitian American Elected Officials Network, pushed strongly during her campaign for a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal aliens, even as the U.S. experiences unprecedented immigration crises all along its Southern border.
She has also pushed for “Medicare for All” policies, but these have long had difficulties getting off the ground due to the objections of members of both parties to the program in the Senate. Moderate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have both objected to major overhauls of government social spending in the past, and it is thus unlikely that Cherfilus-McCormick will be able to bring this policy to fruition during the remainder of the 117th Congress.
Her proposed UBI policy would give every American a guaranteed $1,000 per month, a concept that has seen some movement in Congress: Progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has introduced a bill to the House that would provide a UBI. This bill, however, has gained little traction amid larger Democratic infighting over the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better Act.
In the 20th district, which is one of the most heavily-black districts in Florida, Cherfilus-McCormick’s nomination earlier in the year immediately put her campaign in a favorable position. The newest member of Congress won the district by slightly higher margins than President Joe Biden did in 2020, with Cherfilus-McCormick winning 78 percent of the vote as compared to 77 percent for Biden.
“As your next congresswoman, I promise—I vow—to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to live in this great country,” Cherfilus-McCormick said during her victory speech. “I promise to ensure that everyone can live in this society and move ourselves forward.”
Perhaps aiding Cherfilus-McCormick’s chances was the criminal record of GOP challenger Jason Mariner.
Mariner, who ran a campaign as a Washington outsider, has in the past been convicted of felony theft, possession of cocaine, and obstruction of justice. While Mariner fought off false claims that this made him ineligible for election to the House, it is likely that his track record did much in hindering his chances.
During his campaign, Mariner focused heavily on election integrity, and made clear that he was, like millions of other Americans, suspicious of the results of the 2020 election. Mariner has also made statements supporting the plight of Jan. 6 defendants, who are currently being held without bail in a D.C. jail.
Mariner also campaigned heavily on school choice, arguing that parents should not be locked into sending their children to low-quality public schools.
This is an issue that particularly affects low-income areas like the 20th district, where nearly one in five people live in poverty. Because schools are largely funded through local taxes, poorer areas usually have poorer quality schools, and for families in poverty there is no alternative. Thus, Mariner focused heavily on school choice as a practical solution to the problems faced by the residents.
He also pushed for strengthening law enforcement in order to allow the police to keep streets “safer” and “drug-free.”
“This is not a concession speech,” Mariner insisted after Cherfilus-McCormick’s victory became obvious. “People deserve to have a fair shake at who governs them, and they didn’t get that.”
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday before the results came in, Mariner decried the lack of attention on the race. “A lot of people don’t know that this election is going on,” he said.
With Cherfilus-McCormick’s victory, the Democratic hold over the House has increased slightly from nine seats to ten seats. At the same time, Republicans have lost one seat in the House after Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) recently tendered his resignation to go and help lead Trump’s new media and technology group.
This leaves a new House makeup of 222 Democrats and 211 Republicans. This is good news for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who can now spare slightly more Democrat defectors than she could before.
Still, this slight majority is widely expected to be chipped away by Republicans in November.
And the fight is not over for Cherfilus-McCormick either: Because she won the seat during an election year, she will be immediately forced to again hold off any primary challengers in the district’s August midterms primary election.
After this, Cherfilus-McCormick will have to turn her attention to the general election, although this is likely to prove less of a challenge than the Democratic primary in the blue stronghold.
From The Epoch Times
