New term for Slosberg over political neophyte

Florida House District 91 generally includes the area between Military Trail and the Florida Turnpike north of the Palm Beach County line to Boynton Beach Boulevard.

There is a race for the Florida House District 91 seat, but it’s a race in name only.

Two-term incumbent Emily Slosberg, a Democrat, faces Republican Sayd Hussain. He’s a 22-year-old student at Florida Atlantic University.

We like the idea of younger people getting into politics. We share the challenger’s wish that “a Hussain” — he was born in Guyana — could one day join the Legislature.

Beyond speaking with Republican officeholders, though, Hussain has done little to prepare for this campaign and potential service in Tallahassee. He also doesn’t seem to understand the office he seeks.

Hussain told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that his main issue is homeowner association regulation. He links this priority to a dispute over water service at his Boca Raton condo. That is a municipal issue, not something for the Legislature.

As a Boca Raton resident, Hussain also lives outside the district, which takes in much of West Boca, West Delray and West Boynton.

So the choice must be Slosberg. A Slosberg has represented this part of Florida in the House for most of the last two decades. Slosberg’s father, Irv, held the seat for 12 years, leaving in 2016 to make his second unsuccessful run for the Florida Senate.

Capitalizing on name recognition, Emily Slosberg narrowly won the Democratic primary that year and has had it easy since then. She faced only a write-in candidate four years ago. In 2018, she won a second term without opposition. This year, she faces an earnest but unprepared Republican in a Democrat-heavy district.

Like her father, Emily Slosberg has prioritized traffic safety. In 1996, as a 16-year-old, she survived a crash that killed five passengers and left another a quadriplegic. One of the dead was Dori Slosberg, her twin sister.

That tragedy prompted Irv Slosberg to enter politics. It also has defined Emily Slosberg’s life, as became especially clear last year.

In January, Slosberg faced misdemeanor charges after changing the locks on a home she had sold. She claimed that she wanted to retrieve a bed frame. After denying wrongdoing, she accepted responsibility and completed a diversionary program. Prosecutors then dropped the charges.

In October, Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s deputies responded to calls about a “suicidal” woman — Slosberg — who was chasing cars. Slosberg said she had not been taking her anti-depressant. After being discharged, she said she is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Two months ago, Irv Slosberg told the Palm Beach Post that he actually had involuntarily committed his daughter, despite her objections. In the article, Emily Slosberg opened up about her pain of the last quarter-century. “I was thankful,” she said of her father invoking the Baker Act. “You know you need help. You don’t know what that help is going to look like.”

Slosberg told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that she now channels all her energy into her legislative job. She noted that House 91 has “the second-oldest demographic in the state.” When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and elderly Floridians were most at risk, Slosberg said, she responded by working to get a testing site open in the heart of the district.

It seemed during our interview that Slosberg is still working through her recent history. She called the incident at her old house a “misunderstanding.” She said, “I was never arrested,” although the Notice To Appear she received has the same effect.

But Slosberg can help to reduce the stigma around mental health if she is a productive legislator. The Sun Sentinel recommends Emily Slosberg for Florida House District 91.

Slosberg