Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D, to fill the US House of Representatives seat in Florida

By Brendan Farrington | Related press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Healthcare CEO Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was elected to fill the seat of late Florida Democrat Alcee Hastings on Tuesday, boosting the Democratic Party’s slim majority in the Senate. House of Commons.

Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Republican Jason Mariner in 20th Congressional District, which has a solid Democratic base. Hastings was the longest-serving member of the Florida delegation before he died in April of pancreatic cancer.

Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 5 to 1 in the county, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Voter turnout in the lightweight election is expected to be around 12% to 14%. Less than 9% of voters cast their ballots early by mail and in person, with Democrats voting six times more than Republicans.

Regaining Hastings’ seat would increase the Democrats’ fragile House majority to 222-212, leaving room for no more than four Democratic defectors as Speaker Nancy Pelosi tries to move the seats. his party’s bill passed the House of Representatives. For most of 2021, that margin is three.

Victory, however, would make little difference to the Democrats’ $2 trillion environmental and social bill, currently stalled in the equally divided Senate due to being rejected by Democratic Senators. Joe Manchin of West Virginia protested. The package was unanimously opposed by Republicans.

There’s another vacancy in the House: Republican U.S. Representative Devin Nunes of California left office last week to join a media company run by former President Donald Trump.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s victory marked a stark contrast to the November primaries, when she beat 10 other Democrats by just 5 votes, or 24% less.

She will have to immediately defend her seat in the August primaries and, if she wins, the November general election. She is runner-up to Cherfilus-McCormick in the November primaries, Commissioner. Broward County, Dale Holness, sued to try to overturn the election results. He also plans to run for election in August.

The demographics favor Cherfilus-McCormick on Tuesday. She is the black daughter of Haitian immigrants. About half of voters in the district are Black, compared with about 21% who are white. Mariners white.

Cherfilus-McCormick also has a big money advantage. She lent her campaign nearly $6 million, despite repaying her $2 million. By the end of December, however, she had $1.3 million in her campaign account, compared with less than $24,000 for Mariner.

Mariner is the owner of an advertising agency that pays drivers to place ads on their cars. He served two prison sentences totaling almost two years. He was last released in 2013 after convictions for drugs and theft, according to the Bureau of Corrections.

Mariner’s campaign website says he defeated drug addiction and co-founded an alcohol and drug addiction treatment facility.

While some questioned whether Mariner could run for office due to a felony conviction, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment that gives felons the right to vote. The amended implementation law states that all court costs, fines and restitution must be paid before voting rights are restored.

When Mariner registered to vote, he checked a box that said he had previously been convicted of a felony, but that his voting rights had been restored, said Wendy Sartory Link, County Elections Supervisor Palm Beach said.