2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election

January 11, 2022[1]

Florida's 20th congressional district
 
Nominee Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Jason Mariner
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 44,707 10,966
Percentage 79.0% 19.4%

County results
Cherfilus-McCormick:      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. Representative before election

Alcee Hastings
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
Democratic

The 2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election was a special election to the United States House of Representatives. The seat had been vacant since incumbent Democratic representative Alcee Hastings died on April 6, 2021, of pancreatic cancer.[2]

The special election was scheduled by Governor Ron DeSantis to be held on January 11, 2022. The primary elections were held on November 2, 2021.[1]

Democratic primary

Campaign

Following Hastings' death, 11 Democratic candidates made the primary ballot to replace him.[3]

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Disqualified

Declined

Debates

2022 Florida's 20th congressional district Democratic primary debates
 No.Date & timeHostModeratorLinkParticipants
Key:
 P  Participant    A  Absent    N  Non-invitee    W  Withdrawn
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Bobby DuBose Omari Hardy Dale Holness Barbara Sharief Priscilla Taylor Perry Thurston Jr.
  1[14]  October 24, 2021 WPBF Todd McDermott Video P A P P P A P

Endorsements

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
Barbara Sharief
U.S. representatives
County officials
Newspapers and publications
Organizations
Perry E. Thurston Jr.
State legislators
County officials

Polling

Graphical summary
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Sheila
Cherfilus-McCormick
Bobby
DuBose
Omari
Hardy
Dale
Holness
Barbara
Sharief
Priscilla
Taylor
Perry
Thurston
Other Undecided
Expedition Strategies (D)[upper-alpha 1] October 20–24, 2021 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 15% 6% 5% 14% 13% 2% 10% 2%[lower-alpha 2] 32%
Data for Progress (D) July 6–7, 2021 314 (LV) ± 5.0% 6% 5% 10% 17% 14% 6% 8% 5%[lower-alpha 3] 29%
Public Policy Polling (D)[upper-alpha 2] April 2021 416 (LV) ± 4.8% 7% 13% 6% 11% 12%[lower-alpha 4] 50%
11% 7% 14% 14%[lower-alpha 5] 53%
15% 11% 15% 59%

Results

Per Florida law, because the margin separating Cherfilus-McCormick and Holness was less than 0.5%, a recount was held.[32] Ballots received by November 12 from overseas were accepted. The two candidates were two votes apart as some ballots that had been cast were still in dispute.[34] On November 12, over a week after the primary, the Broward County canvassing board declared Cherfilus-McCormick the winner after a recount failed to change the vote totals. However, Holness did not immediately concede, pointing out that the board had rejected twelve overseas military ballots. He said he would confer with a lawyer to decide whether or not to challenge the results.[35] The Palm Beach County canvassing board voted to certify the election results on the same day.[36] State officials certified the results on November 16.[37]

Cherfilus-McCormick won in Palm Beach County, receiving 30% of the vote. Meanwhile, Holness won in Broward County, where he serves as county commissioner, with 29% of the vote.[4][38]

Results by county
  Cherfilus-McCormick—30-40%
  Holness—20%-30%
Democratic primary results[39]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick 11,662 23.76%
Democratic Dale Holness 11,657 23.75%
Democratic Barbara Sharief 8,680 17.69%
Democratic Perry E. Thurston Jr. 7,282 14.84%
Democratic Bobby DuBose 3,458 7.05%
Democratic Omari Hardy 2,902 5.91%
Democratic Priscilla Taylor 1,677 3.42%
Democratic Elvin Dowling 646 1.32%
Democratic Emmanuel Morel 454 0.93%
Democratic Phil Jackson 342 0.70%
Democratic Imran Siddiqui 316 0.64%
Total votes 49,074 100.00%

Aftermath

Holness filed a lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court on November 29 asking it to overturn the election results, alleging Cherfilus-McCormick to be "ineligible to hold office." The lawsuit asserts that Cherfilus-McCormick did not file proper financial paperwork and that her support for a universal basic income of $1,000 per month amounted to bribing voters.[40][41] Holness claimed that voters had asked workers at polling places "where they collect the $1,000 from, so they expected to get $1,000."[42] Election lawyer and former state representative Juan-Carlos Planas described the lawsuit as a "Hail Mary pass" and doubted it would be successful.[40] Don James, an attorney for Holness, acknowledged that the challenge likely would not be resolved in time for the election.[43] Mail-in ballots for the special election with Cherfilus-McCormick listed as the Democratic nominee were sent out beginning on December 3.[44]

On December 6, Cherfilus-McCormick's attorneys filed a lengthy brief in response to the lawsuit that disputed its claims, calling it "a desperate attempt to overturn the will of the voters." In response to the allegation of bribery, the brief points out that promising monetary benefits to voters is common, comparing Cherfilus-McCormick's support for a universal basic income to "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage," a slogan used by former president Herbert Hoover in his 1928 presidential campaign. The brief also claims that Holness's complaint was filed too late and is thus invalid, and asks the judge to dismiss it and order Holness to pay Cherfilus-McCormick's legal fees.[45] Ultimately, Holness's challenge fell flat, as no judge took up the case.[46]

Republican primary

Campaign

Two Republicans made the primary ballot, businessman Jason Mariner and Greg Musselwhite, who had been the Republican nominee for the seat in 2020. The two men cut different appearances on the campaign trail, with Mariner presenting himself in a clean-cut fashion while Musselwhite campaigned in a more folksy manner.[47] A substantial part of Mariner's campaign was based around his turning his life around after previously being imprisoned twice on various felony charges.[48][49] Musselwhite attacked Mariner for his prior felony convictions, claiming in a later-deleted Facebook post that voters had a choice between "the correctional officer or the inmate".[47]

Mariner ran as an "America First conservative",[50] promoting false claims that the results of the 2020 presidential election were illegitimate, as well as making statements in support of the rioters at the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack and the Confederate Flag, which he defended as a "battle flag that was later co-opted by racist groups".[51]

Candidates

Nominee

  • Jason Mariner, businessman[4]

Eliminated in primary

  • Gregory "Greg" Musselwhite, welding inspector and nominee for this district in 2020[4]

Disqualified

Endorsements

Jason Mariner
U.S. representatives
State officials
Newspapers and publications
Individuals

Results

Results by county
  Mariner—50–60%
Republican primary results[39]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jason Mariner 3,500 57.8%
Republican Gregory Musselwhite 2,552 42.2%
Total votes 6,052 100.0%

Independent and third-party candidates

Libertarian Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

Disqualified

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[58] Solid D October 15, 2021
Inside Elections[59] Solid D January 10, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball[60] Safe D May 20, 2021

Endorsements

Endorsements in bold were made after the primary elections.

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D)
State officials
County officials
Individuals
Organizations
Labor unions
Jason Mariner (R)
U.S. representatives
State officials
Individuals
Declined to endorse
Newspapers and publications

Results

As expected by election prognosticators, Cherfilus-McCormick won the election by a landslide, winning 79% of the popular vote.[70] In spite of this, Mariner refused to concede, threatening to file a lawsuit to dispute the results.[70]

2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election[71]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick 44,707 78.96% +0.29
Republican Jason Mariner 10,966 19.37% –1.95
Libertarian Mike ter Maat 395 0.70% N/A
Independent Jim Flynn 265 0.47% N/A
Independent Lenny Serratore 262 0.46% N/A
Write-in Shelley Fain 22 0.04% N/A
Total votes 56,617 100.0%
Democratic hold
By county
County Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
Democratic
Jason Mariner
Republican
Mike ter Maat
Libertarian
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total
votes
# % # % # % # % # %
Broward (part) 32,867 82.74 6,228 15.68 252 0.63 375 0.94 26,639 67.06 39,722
Palm Beach (part) 11,840 70.08 4,738 28.04 143 0.85 174 1.03 7,102 42.04 16,895
Totals 44,707 78.96 10,966 19.37 395 0.70 549 0.97 33,741 59.59 56,617

See also

Notes

  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. Jackson with 2%; Dowling, Morel, and Siddiqui with 0%
  3. "Another candidate" with 5%; Matt Boswell and Emmanuel Morel with 0%
  4. Bobby Powell with 9%; Shevrin Jones with 3%
  5. Bobby Powell with 10%; Shevrin Jones with 4%
Partisan clients
  1. This poll was commissioned by Pro-Israel America, which did not endorse any candidate.
  2. This poll was commissioned by a Democratic consultant expected to work in the race.

References

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