Are We Wrong to Assume a Black Democrat Is Best for Black Voters?

Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the exact kind of Democrat I usually criticize. She’s been in Congress for more than 20 years, done nothing particularly remarkable or courageous during that time, did a disastrous job of running the Democratic National Committee in 2016 by pouring gasoline on the Hillary-versus-Bernie fire, and disingenuously suggested that Joe Biden was a strong candidate even after his horrible debate performance two years ago. I never imagined writing a piece in defense of her. Yet here I am. Democrats and Black Americans desperately need to rethink our approach to racial politics, and Wasserman Schultz has accidentally ended up on the right side of some critical questions.Here’s the story. Wasserman Schultz’s political life was upended a few weeks ago when Florida Republicans further gerrymandered the state. The GOP is aiming to win 24 of Florida’s 28 U.S. House seats, four more than they have now. So they shifted the South Florida communities that comprise the 25th district that Wasserman Schultz represents in a way that turns the electorate from one that Kamala Harris won by about five percentage points in 2024 to one Harris lost by nine. The elections website Planscore estimates that a Democrat has about a 20 percent chance of winning the new version of the 25th district. Such a victory would be particularly hard for Wasserman Schultz, a sharp-elbowed partisan who has done little to appeal to centrist voters. So Wasserman Schultz, 59, has opted to run in Florida’s 20th district. Under the new maps, Harris won that district by around 37 points in 2024, according to estimates from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. PlanScore puts the odds of a Democrat winning there at over 99 percent. So whoever wins the Democratic primary on August 18 will almost certainly head to Capitol Hill. Here’s the conundrum. Both the old and new versions of the 20th district have sizable Black populations. Many of these communities were long represented by Alcee Hastings, who is Black and served in the House from 1993 to 2021. Hastings was succeeded by another Black politician, Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick. The congresswoman held the seat until this April, when she resigned from the House because she was likely to be expelled after being indicted for allegedly stealing federal disaster relief funds and using them for her campaign. The 20th district seat is currently vacant. Many Democrats in Florida say that at a time when Republicans are using the Supreme Court’s recent Louisiana v. Callais ruling to eliminate majority-Black districts and effectively expel African Americans from Congress, a white pol like Wasserman Schultz shouldn’t be running in a seat that has traditionally been held by a Black politician. The Black Caucus in Florida’s state legislature called Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run in the 20th district “disheartening.” A group of 10 Florida DNC members, some Black and some not, released a letter blasting Wasserman Schultz in fiery terms. They said her district choice “reinforces the same message Republicans have pushed for years: that Black representation does not matter.” “Our party cannot credibly denounce the dismantling of Black political power by Republicans while treating one of Florida’s few remaining majority-Black districts as a political opportunity for an incumbent seeking a safer seat,” they added. “We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient.” Wasserman Schultz has argued that she can bring more money home to the 20th district than a newly elected member because of her seniority. And she emphasizes her long-standing relationships with Black leaders and support of Black organizations in Southern Florida. That’s all true. Let’s not ignore the obvious, though: She isn’t running in the 20th district on some altruistic mission to help Black people in South Florida, but rather because it’s the easiest way to continue her political career. That said, I don’t want the congresswoman to stand down. Wasserman Schultz’s candidacy embodies two important principles worth defending. First, Black voters should get the chance to choose the candidate who they feel best represents them, whatever that person’s race. The new 20th district is about 40 percent Black. So it’s likely that the Democratic primary electorate is majority Black. A successful candidate will have to convince Black voters that they will advance the interests of African Americans on Capitol Hill. What’s happening in Florida’s 20th district is much different than in Louisiana and Tennessee, where heavily Democratic, majority-Black districts are being replaced by ones that have Republican majorities.