A needed lawmaker stays put, for a change

TALLAHASSEE — At a time of political upheaval, one Broward legislator is staying put. It’s time more people knew about state Rep. Anika Omphroy.

Her workload grew when Gov. Ron DeSantis chose to deny representation to many of central Broward’s Black residents. A sizeable portion of the county has had no voice in Washington since U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings died last April, and many of the same residents will soon lose their local voices in Tallahassee, too. That’s because Sen. Perry Thurston and Rep. Bobby DuBose resigned to run for Hastings’ seat, and DeSantis purposefully delayed calling special elections, ensuring that more than half a million Floridians would be voiceless for the entire upcoming legislative session. That’s pure taxation without representation.

Omphroy, a Lauderdale Lakes Democrat, has quietly assumed the responsibility of representing adjoining districts that won’t have elected advocates. “I’m now carrying extra weight,” she said in an interview in her 10th-floor Capitol office. “My community to my right needs me.”

She’s staying put — but it’s not for lack of trying. She also tried to move on by applying for the vacancy on the Broward County Commission created by Dale Holness’ departure to run for Congress.

Omphroy said she applied for the $105,885-a-year job in part because she lives with and is the sole caregiver for one of her two 91-year-old grandmothers. But DeSantis, who last year appointed Omphroy to a statewide post-pandemic reopening task force, selected Republican Torey Alston instead, even though her House territory overlaps Holness’ District 9. (She said she would have asked to take the seat after the session ends in March.)

Omphroy, 41, is Jamaican-American, a New York City native raised in Broward, and a proud Nova High graduate with a degree in paralegal studies from Nova Southeastern University.

Her path to Tallahassee is one of the most unusual in the annals of Broward politics. After finishing second in a five-way primary in 2016, she ran again two years later and won unopposed when incumbent state Rep. Barrington Russell’s qualifying papers weren’t filed in time.

Last year, she narrowly defeated Jasmen Rogers-Shaw, 51% to 49%, even as some of her House colleagues actively worked to defeat her amid questions about her loyalty to Democratic principles. (She voted for a parental notice abortion bill in 2021.)

She represents one of the most heavily Democratic districts in Florida that touches seven cities, anchored by Lauderhill and Lauderdale Lakes. More than 60% of its voters are Black. Its boundaries and district number (95) are likely to change in redistricting, but the district will remain deep blue, largely poor and increasingly diverse.

She proudly cited a Korean United Methodist Church on West Commercial Boulevard that operates a food pantry on Saturdays in the church parking lot. That’s the spot where a generation ago, Democrats of a demographically different Broward gathered for political banquets and kosher food at what was David’s Catering, before it became Diamante’s.

It has not been easy sledding for Omphroy, and some of her difficulties are of her own making. She recently agreed to pay $2,100 in fines for three violations of filing campaign finance reports late and other paperwork problems.

At a public hearing last month, Omphroy cited her attention deficit disorder, a decision to serve as her own campaign treasurer and her work as a caregiver for the repeated mistakes. She urged the Florida Elections Commission to resolve the old cases even though the FEC offered to postpone action because her attorney wasn’t there.

“I really want to get this over with,” she said.

Omphroy is one of three Broward Democrats on the full House committee overseeing redistricting. She’s also the ranking Democrat on a House panel that spends plenty of money. It’s the Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, where water projects are approved and climate strategies take shape.

Pompano Beach Mayor Rex Hardin recently went to Tallahassee in search of state money and sought Omphroy’s help in replacing septic tanks with sewers and making streetscape improvements to Riverside Drive. “She’s a dynamic individual. She really is,” Hardin said.

In Tamarac, Mayor Michelle Gomez praised Omphroy’s work ethic and called her “a pleasure to work with.”

Omphroy claims credit for adding canals, a staple of her aging district, to resiliency plans, as she has seen her neighbors’ back yards slowly disappear. She cited her work in snagging $2 million for six separate projects in the district in the current state budget, including restoring canals in Lauderdale Lakes and Tamarac, and she’s seeking even more for next year.

“I have worked my butt off to ensure that they receive their tax dollars back,” Omphroy said. “I focus on the things I know are necessary.”

And in this part of Broward, for the next three months, nothing will be more necessary than solid, good old-fashioned representation.