Former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz just announced she's ditching her own congressional district to parachute into Florida's new 20th Congressional District — a historically Black seat — because apparently her commitment to "representation" only extends as far as her next election. She dropped the announcement in a video posted to X on May 22nd, and if you look closely at the background, there's a Barack Obama poster staged right behind her like a racial permission slip.
You can't make this stuff up, folks. A white establishment Democrat literally propped up an Obama portrait as set decoration to signal she "belongs" in a majority-Black district she's never represented. Somewhere, a campaign staffer got a bonus for that one.
Here's the backstory. Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans redrew the congressional map, splitting Wasserman Schultz's current 25th District into five different districts. Rather than fight for any of the pieces of her actual constituency, she surveyed the board and picked the safest blue seat she could find — one that was specifically drawn to ensure Black voters could elect a candidate of their choice. First elected to Congress back in 2004, Wasserman Schultz has two decades of seniority and a Rolodex full of donor contacts. She's betting that money and name recognition will steamroll seven Black candidates who were already running.
That's the play. Flood a crowded primary, let the Black candidates split each other's votes, and waltz to the nomination. Classic.
In her announcement, Wasserman Schultz had the audacity to frame this land grab as heroism. "I'm announcing my candidacy for reelection in Congressional District 20, because we cannot let Trump destroy Broward County's power," she declared, adding she would "use all my seniority and influence in Washington to continue to make our lives more affordable, and make Broward a safer, less expensive place to live, raise a family, and retire." She even claimed the district "deserves a representative who won't be learning on the job."
Translation: step aside, locals. The professional is here.
Black Democrats are not having it. Elijah Manley, one of the Black candidates already running in the district, slapped her with the nickname "Jim Crow Debbie" and said she is "carpetbagging to FL-20, a Black opportunity district, instead of running in her own." Incoming Florida Senate Democratic Leader Designate Shevrin Jones of Miami Gardens told Wasserman Schultz directly that "Black representation is a non-negotiable for me."
But the real hammer dropped this week. Ten of the 15 elected members of the Florida Democratic National Committee released a joint statement condemning her move. Read this carefully, because Democrats almost never eat their own this publicly: "Our party cannot credibly denounce the dismantling of Black political power by Republicans while treating one of Florida's few remaining majority-Black districts as a political opportunity for an incumbent seeking a safer seat. We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient."
That's ten out of fifteen DNC members in her own state telling her to get lost. As reported by Patriot News Alerts, the backlash has been swift and brutal.
Now let's talk about what made this seat open in the first place. The previous representative, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is Black, resigned from office before a House panel was scheduled to consider expelling her over criminal charges of embezzling $5 million in federal disaster aid. So the district lost its Black representative under ugly circumstances, and Wasserman Schultz saw that as her invitation to move in.
Classy.
This is the Democratic Party in one scene: lecture America about systemic racism on Monday, then carpet-bag into a Black district on Tuesday with an Obama poster as your hall pass. They don't see Black voters as constituents. They see them as stepping stones, fundraising props, and vote-splitting opportunities.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz ran the DNC when they rigged the 2016 primary against Bernie Sanders. She's never met a power grab she didn't like. But this one — staging an Obama portrait behind you while you colonize a seat built for Black representation — might be her most brazen move yet. The mask isn't slipping. She took it off, framed it, and hung it on the wall next to Barack.