No delays: Call election for Hastings replacement

FORT LAUDERDALE — The death last Tuesday of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings leaves more than a half-million Floridians with no voice in Congress for the first time in three decades — including many Black and brown voters who need a strong advocate without delay.

Florida law says the governor shall call a special election so that voters in the 20th district, which includes parts of 18 cities across Broward and Palm Beach counties, can choose their new member of Congress.

But the law does not specify when. DeSantis could take his sweet time and play politics, and leave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with one less reliable vote in her precarious majority. Simply by doing nothing, DeSantis could score points with conservatives as he plots a run for the White House. That also would disenfranchise many Democrats in South Florida, but since when did Republicans care about that?

DeSantis may well call a special election quickly, and that would be the right call because holding a special election should not be a partisan decision. He needs to act, and besides, he could use the practice. The governor may have to call another one soon in Florida’s Panhandle as an unfolding scandal points to the likely resignation of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.

The last time a Florida member of Congress died in office, former Gov. Rick Scott didn’t dilly-dally — but the politics were very different. A venerable member of Congress from Tampa Bay, C. W. Bill Young, died on Oct. 18, 2013, and Scott ordered a new election 13 days later. Young was a Republican in a swing seat and the GOP controlled Congress at the time, so

Republicans wanted that seat filled. In a special election, Republican David Jolly defeated Democrat Alex Sink to win a seat now held by Democrat Charlie Crist.

In Broward and Palm Beach, voters are in for a wild ride. An open seat in Congress comes along rarely, so the list of would-be successors to Hastings will be long. It already includes state Sen. Perry Thurston of Plantation and Broward commissioners Dale Holness and Barbara Sharief, whose departures will cause a cascading domino effect in Broward politics that hasn’t happened in a long time.

Voters will have to choose a new senator to replace Thurston, who also is in line to be the Senate Democratic leader in the 2022-2024 cycle. At least two House members are likely to run for Thurston’s Senate seat, setting even more dominoes in motion, as those House seats would have to be filled.

DeSantis would choose replacements for Holness and Sharief until the next election. The governor will likely break the Democrats’ exclusive grip on all nine commission seats. You can count on one hand the Republicans who have served on the Broward County Commission in the past three decades. Hastings’ health was in decline for several years, and Holness has been laying the groundwork for a campaign for Congress for a long time. A master at self-promotion, Holness paid tribute to Hastings at Tuesday’s commission meeting by using the pronoun “I” repeatedly. Even Holness’ message to his supporters began with the pronoun: “I lost a great friend.”

Special elections are highly unpredictable. The candidates face intense pressure to raise money in a hurry and to build the best possible get-out-the-vote operation. But none of that matters until DeSantis calls a special election.