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<\/figure>\n\nCan a White congresswoman represent a historically Black congressional district?<\/p>\n
The provocative question is swirling around Florida\u2019s 20th District, where Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz<\/b>, a former DNC chair and longtime member of the House, announced last week she will run. She currently represents the 25th District, and her decision to switch is ruffling feathers in Florida.<\/p>\n
The 20th District is nearly half Black and contains several historically Black communities in Broward County. It was drawn to ensure Black Floridians in the area would not have their votes diluted under the Voting Rights Act. Former representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick<\/b> last held the seat from 2022 until her resignation this year. She stepped down following allegations she stole FEMA funds.<\/p>\n
But after the state\u2019s Republican-led legislature redrew district boundaries, Wasserman Schultz\u2019s home district become much less Democratic, with Cook Political Report rating it a toss-up race this year. Rep. Jared Moskowitz<\/b> (D-Florida) announced yesterday he would run in Wasserman Schultz\u2019s old seat.<\/p>\n
Wasserman Schultz\u2019s move to the much safer 20th District angered many Black Floridians who saw it as taking a seat that should be held by a Black member. The new district is still roughly 45 percent Black and contains only a small portion of Wasserman Schultz\u2019s original district.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajority Black districts are going away, and they\u2019re important. They led to some great things and some amazing people in Congress, and those are going away,\u201d former state representative Sean Shaw<\/b>, who is Black, told us. \u201cAnd for her to decide that she was so important and so senior and so necessary to the party that she would run in one of those few remaining Black seats is infuriating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The controversy expands beyond the district. After the Supreme Court struck down a provision of the Voting Rights Act protecting majority minority districts in Louisiana v. Callais<\/i> last month, Democrats fear Black representation in Congress will be diluted with Republican-led redistricting.<\/p>\n
Several Black DNC members condemned <\/b>Wasserman Schultz in a statement this week<\/a>. Shaw was one of the signatories to the letter.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Callais, Democrats across the country argued that majority Black districts matter and that we need to defend them,\u201d Juan Cuba<\/b>, another DNC signatory to the letter, told us. \u201cShe\u2019s the former chair of our party. I think we would look hypocritical when we say, \u2018well, the voters like me in the district so I\u2019m going to run here,\u2019 instead of running in a district where she currently lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar dynamics have played out elsewhere in the country as mid-decade redistricting pits Democratic incumbents against each other. In Texas\u2019s 37th Congressional District, Reps. Greg Casar<\/b> and Lloyd Doggett<\/b>, both of whom are Austin-based, faced off <\/b>against each other in an intergenerational clash<\/a>. Doggett, a 16-term incumbent who is the last White male Democrat from Texas in Congress, dropped out of the race after several prominent Austin Democrats told him to pass the torch to the 37-year-old Latino Casar.<\/p>\n Wasserman Schultz, with her high name-ID from decades in Congress and years chairing the DNC, is likely the favorite to win in the 20th District. But the move severely ruptured her standing with many Black Democrats, Shaw said.<\/p>\n Elijah Manley<\/b>, a candidate in the 20th District, said Wasserman Schultz could win if the Black electorate splits its vote among the Black candidates in the race. He called her move \u201cselfish\u201d and \u201ccynical.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans are noticing the tension in the district and joining in the attacks on one of their favorite targets.<\/p>\n \u201cDebbie Wasserman Schultz is abandoning her home district because she knows she was headed for defeat in a seat President Trump won by double digits,\u201d Maureen O\u2019Toole<\/b>, a spokesperson for House Republicans\u2019 campaign arm, said in a statement. \u201cInstead of facing voters after years of backing Democrats\u2019 failed agenda, Wasserman Schultz is running scared and handing Republicans a prime pickup opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n But the sentiment that Wasserman Schultz would handily win in the primary relies on a fundamental premise: that few Democrats in the district actually oppose her. She may not look like a lot of the district, but she has represented her section of South Florida, including many Black voters, for years.<\/p>\n Jodi Davidson<\/b>, who served as Wasserman Schultz\u2019s district director from 2005 to 2016, said the vocal criticism of a few in the district does not reflect the larger community.<\/p>\n \u201cElection Day will tell us what the community at large or even individual communities think of that,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cThere\u2019s a very loud vocal minority that\u2019s upset about it, but I\u2019m hearing just as many people from Black communities and other communities who are really excited about her run. \u2026 She knows how to turn policy into reality and bring home the bacon.\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson defended Wasserman Schultz\u2019s seniority in Congress as a crucial asset for the region. She cited Wasserman Schultz\u2019s position on the Appropriations Committee and knowledge of inside baseball, which she said allowed her to stop drilling in the Everglades and bring money back to the district.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nobody who fights harder for her district than Debbie,\u201d another former adviser to the congresswoman told us. \u201cWhile I do understand the controversy there and I do think there are some credible candidates, I understand the situation she\u2019s in as well. But she does have a proven track record of delivering for her community.\u201d<\/p>\n State Sen. Shevrin Jones <\/b>(D-Florida) had a similar perspective, though he ultimately thought Wasserman Schultz should not have run in the 20th District. Jones praised the congresswoman for effectively advocating for Broward County for years, including bringing federal funds for the county and coming out to churches during the pandemic to help with relief efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work that Debbie has done in this community and the work that Debbie has done for the Democratic Party at large is unmatched. I would never take that away from her,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n Still, he felt it important to have a representative whose \u201clived experiences\u201d matched those of the Black electorate. He said she would have to have tough conversations to repair relations with many members of the community after the election.<\/p> Read more England forward Anthony Gordon set to complete his transfer to Barcelona from Newcastle<\/a><\/p>\n Jones said he spoke with the congresswoman before her decision to run in the 20th District and said she was \u201cvery receptive\u201d to his concerns about not having a Black representative. But she felt the Florida Legislature had put the party in this position.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not to say that Debbie cannot represent Black people,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWhat I am saying is that it is important that Black representation be seen in that community because that is what the legacy of that seat has been.\u201d<\/p>\n Wasserman Schultz\u2019s campaign didn\u2019t respond to request for comment.<\/p>\n Our colleague, Jonathan O\u2019Connell<\/b>, broke the news<\/a> yesterday that Trump administration officials have pressed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring the president\u2019s portrait, citing four current and former employees.<\/p>\n The push is the latest in a long line of Trump-acolyte suggestions to put the president\u2019s face, name and likeness on <\/b>all sorts of American institutions, from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to Dulles International Airport in Virginia to Pennsylvania Station in New York City.<\/p>\n As Jonathan reported, this would be the \u201cfirst appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years.\u201d Federal law currently allows only deceased people to appear on bills, but a bill introduced in Congress last year would allow Trump to appear on a $250 bill to commemorate the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n The director of the printing bureau, Patricia \u201cPatty\u201d Solimene<\/b>, was reassigned after she explained to officials pressuring her, \u201cthere were legal and procedural obstacles to producing the note and that it would take years longer than they envisioned.\u201d<\/p>\n We have documented in this newsletter how Republicans have used Trump\u2019s desire to see his name in prominent places to woo the president. Sen. John Cornyn <\/b>(R-Texas) proposed that Highway 287 \u201cbe known as Trump Interstate\u201d to impress the president before Trump endorsed Cornyn\u2019s primary opponent. Palm Beach International Airport was successfully renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. And a Republican event wanted to rename the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to the \u201cWashington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access\u201d (WMAGA) \u2014 in honor of the president\u2019s political movement \u2014 and the train system the \u201cTrump Train.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats predictably lambasted the idea. \u201cRidiculous. So many Americans can barely even afford a $250 emergency, \u201d wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal<\/b> (D-Washington). \u201cIn violation of laws against putting a living president\u2019s likeness on our currency, Donald Trump wants his image on a $250 bill,\u201d wrote Sen. Adam Schiff <\/b>(D-California). \u201cHow about trying to help Americans with their bills instead?\u201d<\/p>\n Whether the plan happens or not, it is yet another sign that Trump\u2019s push to remake Washington, D.C., and the federal government is as much about his legacy as a leader as it is about seeing his image anywhere and everywhere.<\/p>\n Spectrum News Maine<\/b>: The race to be Maine\u2019s next governor is getting very interesting<\/a>. Former state Senate president Troy Jackson<\/b> and former Maine CDC director Nirav Shah<\/b> are locked in a tight race on the Democratic side, besting a few well-known names. Former assistant U.S. secretary of state Bobby Charles <\/b>is leading on the Republican side, besting a member of the Bush family.<\/p>\n The Salt Lake Tribune<\/b>: How dire are drought conditions out West? Utah officials have been burning stands of phragmites<\/a>, an invasive wetland plant, because they drink considerable water that is needed for noninvasive plants and animals.<\/p>\n Washington City Paper<\/b>: Yelling \u201cfire\u201d in a government office? That will cost you more than $1 million. According to the local publication, D.C. officials spent $1.5 million on a human fire watch and fire alert system repairs<\/a> in the district\u2019s long-maintenance-plagued Marion Barry Building.<\/p>\n Trump may go to an NBA Finals game in New York in the coming days, raising the specter of fervent boos from the famously blunt New York Knicks fans.<\/p>\n Our readers think Trump will welcome the boos because, after all, it is attention.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people are booing, it means they are giving him attention \u2014 and that\u2019s what he craves. Whether it\u2019s a cheer or a boo, he is in your mind, which means he\u2019s got your attention. It\u2019s sad, really,\u201d wrote Michelle Justiniano<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I see it Trump shows up just to make an appearance, just like he did in the movie \u2018Home Alone,\u2019\u201d wrote Rick Prescott<\/b>. \u201cHe walks in waving at no one just so he can use it for some form of demented PR.\u201d<\/p>\n And Debbie Jarmusik <\/b>said, \u201che probably thinks the fans are booing someone else, not him.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve asked this in the past but with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer <\/b>causing a stir with her 2028 stance<\/a>, we\u2019d like to check in with you again.<\/p>\n Are there any 2028 candidates you\u2019re excited about, Republican and Democrat? Who?<\/p>\n Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica<\/a> and @matthewichoi<\/a>.<\/p>