Path cleared for new Democratic lawmaker to be sworn in
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee’s office officially told the Florida House of Representatives on Friday that Daryl Campbell has been certified as the duly elected newest state lawmaker.
With the letter from Lee’s office, Campbell will be sworn in next week, allowing him to participate in the bulk of the annual legislative session. The move is a reversal of what Lee’s office said Thursday — that no certification letter would be issued until at least March 8, three days before the scheduled end of the legislative session.
After days of uncertainty, Campbell said Friday he’s looking forward to starting as a state representative.
“I’m just thankful that I can come in and serve my district. That’s all I want to do. I’m not here to burn down the Capitol. I’m not here to do all that extra stuff. I want to make sure I’m the voice that the people in my district wanted to be for them,” he said. “I’m anxious to get started. I’m excited. I can’t say enough how excited I am.”
Campbell’s Jan. 11 election has never been in doubt — but the question of when he’d be sworn into office has bounced around Tallahassee like a ping pong ball for days.
And it’s attracted notice because Campbell is a Democrat, while Lee is an appointee of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Republicans control the Florida House.
Campbell won 40% of the vote in a four-candidate election in the Broward County 94th state House District. On Tuesday, the state Elections Canvassing Commission certified him as the winner.
But late Thursday afternoon, Lee’s press secretary said the office wouldn’t send a letter to the House transmitting the notice of that certification until at least March 8.
The rationale for the March 8 date stems from the nature of the special election. Campbell was elected in a primary to represent District 94. The primary was open to all voters, called a universal primary, because only Democrats came forward to run for the position. If there had been the need for a general election it would have been held on March 8.
Friday’s action — sending the certification letter — was different from the position outlined Thursday in an email from Lee’s press secretary, Mallory Morgan, in which she wrote that the letter wasn’t immediately forthcoming.
Mark Ard, director of external affairs for the Secretary of State’s Office, said Friday the agency has not reversed course. “Because there was confusion and because there were questions, we decided to break from tradition and provide this letter to the House.”
On Thursday, Morgan also referred questions to the House “for further information.” The Florida Constitution makes the House of Representatives the “sole judge of the qualifications, elections, and returns of its members.”
But the House doesn’t swear in members without a formal notification of the certified results from the secretary of state.
Jenna Box Sarkissian, Sprowls’ communications director, said Friday that the speaker “looks forward to welcoming Rep. Campbell to begin his legislative duties in
the Florida House on Monday and anticipates a ceremonial swearing-in during Tuesday’s floor session” of the full House of Representatives.
“We are very excited to have Representative Campbell join us here in Tallahassee to do the people’s business,” House Minority Leader Evan Jenne, a Broward Democrat, said in a written statement. “The 179,000+ Broward County residents in the district deserve to have a voice in their state government, and now they will.”
Campbell was in Tallahassee part of this week and was able to play in the annual Democrats vs. Republicans
softball game. (The Democrats won the annual “King of the Hill” softball game 14-2, breaking a long losing streak.) Campbell, who played third base, said it was a great way to get to know some of his soon-to-become colleagues in both parties.
Republicans hold almost a 2:1 advantage in the House, which has 78 Republicans and 40 Democrats. Campbell will be the 41st Democrat. One vacancy won’t be filled until a March 8 special election in Palm Beach County.
On Thursday, Lee’s office said it was sticking to March 8 for a certification letter. Ard said it’s been longstanding practice not to issue such letters before the general election date.
In 2019, that practice prevented the swearing in of Democratic state Rep. Dan Daley. He wasn’t sworn in to his northwest Broward district until after completion of that year’s legislative session.
A ripple of delays
The primary filled the vacancy created when former state Rep. Bobby DuBose resigned for what turned out to be an unsuccessful campaign for Congress.
DuBose submitted his resignation in July, but DeSantis waited for months before setting a special election — acting only after a lawsuit was filed asking a judge to order him to set election dates.
If the special election had been set earlier, as Democrats wanted, the seat could have been filled by the start of the legislative session.
Two other seats, in the state Senate of Broward and the state House from Palm Beach County, are vacant because the previous occupants also resigned to run for Congress.
Democrats nominated candidates for those jobs, but because Republicans came forward to run, there are general elections for those positions on March 8, the date picked by DeSantis.
The 94th state House District includes northwest Fort Lauderdale and parts of Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes and Plantation.