Holness plans rematch after 5-vote primary loss
A 2022 repeat is brewing among the top three finishers in the just-decided, fiercely fought South Florida congressional primary.
Dale Holness, who lost the Democratic primary to Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick by five votes, is planning another candidacy.
Barbara Sharief, who finished third in the 11-candiate special primary on Nov. 2, said Monday she is “more than likely” to run again.
Different landscape
The 2022 Democratic primary could be completely unlike like the 2021 special primary in which Cherfilus-McCormick, Holness, Sharief and eight others competed for the Democratic nomination for the vacancy created by the April 6 death of the U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.
The special primary election occurred at a time when elections aren’t usually held, and with no other races on the ballot. The August 2022 primary will be held at the same time as the party primary to nominate a candidate for governor, a contest that could produce a much higher voter turnout than the Nov. 2 contest.
A total of 49,082 Democrats voted in the special primary, compared to 90,590 in the August 2020 Democratic congressional primary and 71,325 in August 2018.
The presence of the primaries for governor, along with congressional, state legislative and county posts will make it much more difficult for any candidate in a single race for Congress to attract as much attention as they did when when nothing else was on the ballot. All that political noise will also make it more expensive for candidates to reach a potentially larger pool of voters.
There’s one other decisive factor. Before the primary, all the boundaries of Florida’s congressional districts will be redrawn to reflect population changes uncovered in the 2020 Census. So, no one knows yet what the district will look like, or even if the 2022 version will still include parts of both Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Florida Legislature will decide on districts in next year’s legislative session.
The area that is currently the 20th Congressional District — even the number could change under the new map — takes in most of the African American and Caribbean American communities in the two counties.
It’s overwhelmingly Democratic,
something that isn’t likely to change too much given the overall partisan leanings of the counties’ registered voters.
Geography could play a role in the outcome. In the 2021 primary, Holness’ best showing was in Broward and Cherfilus-McCormick won big in Palm Beach County.
Cherfilus-McCormick will be running for a full term with the advantages of incumbency. “I think she has the advantage here,” said state Rep. Bobby DuBose, D-Fort Lauderdale. “No one has a crystal ball, but I think there’s something to be said for incumbency.” DuBose was one of the unsuccessful candidates in the congressional primary.
Planning
People in the political world said Holness has been spreading word of his plans to run again. Holness, whose cellphone voice mail was full Monday, didn’t respond to a text message seeking comment Monday morning. But he has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring himself a 2022 candidate.
Though another run is “more than likely” for Sharief, a candidacy and timing of an announcement aren’t certain.
She said she’ s “making some preparations for it right now, and once I have everything then I’ll make an announcement either way.”
“I’m waiting to see what the districts look like. We have no idea. So, I can’t really say which district I’m going to run in,” she said.
Holness and Sharief are both Broward County Commissioners. To run for Congress, both had to resign from their commission seats, departures that will go into effect along with the special general election on Jan. 11.
Three other elected officials also resigned to run for Congress: DuBose, state Sen. Perry Thurston from Broward and state Rep. Omari Hardy, of Palm Beach County.
DuBose said he would not run for Congress again in 2022. He said he doesn’t know if he’ll run for another office next year and that he wouldn’t think about it before the holidays.
Neither Thurston nor Hardy immediately responded to inquiries Monday about their 2022 plans.
Residency
The new boundaries could also mean some candidates don’t live in the district. That’s not a legal requirement to serve in Congress, and members — including Hastings at the end of his 20 years in office — sometimes don’t.
Neither Republican Jason Mariner nor Libertarian Mike ter Maat, both of whom will be on the Jan. 11 special general election ballot, live in the 20th District. The district is so heavily Democratic that Cherfilus-McCormick, of Miramar, is virtually assured of victory.
Lawsuits
Holness hasn’t conceded to Cherfilus-McCormick.
He’s filed two lawsuits challenging the results of the five-vote loss certified by the state Elections Canvassing Commission.
He originally filed the challenges in Broward and Palm Beach County circuit courts, which election lawyers said wasn’t the right place to file. He subsequently asked the courts to transfer his cases to Leon County, where the state Canvassing Commission meets in Tallahassee.