Florida’s Redrawn 20th District Puts Black Representation at Risk

Florida’s 20th Congressional District, covering large portions of Broward and Palm Beach counties, was recently redrawn in a mid-decade map that eliminated its Black-majority status. The change creates a “non-Black majority” district ahead of the upcoming Democratic primary, meaning the district could lose its Black representative for the first time since 1993. If the primary yields a non-Black winner, the number of Black members of Congress from Florida could fall to two—the lowest level in the state’s modern history.

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After the Civil War, Black Republican Josiah Walls served from 1871-1876, but Jim Crow laws erased Black congressional representation for more than a century. A 1993 federal court order forced the creation of districts that allowed minority candidates to win, resulting in at least three Black Floridians serving in Congress for the past three decades. The 20th District has been represented by Black Democrats since 1992, and the state’s 24th District in Miami-Dade remains the only Black-majority district left.

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The Democratic primary features several Black candidates: former Broward commissioner Dale Holness, activist Elijah Manley, hip-hop figure Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, and former incumbent Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned after a federal fraud indictment but is running again claiming innocence. Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, now a gubernatorial candidate, represents the neighboring 19th District, which is about 6 % Black.

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Advocacy leader Dwight Bullard warned that “by simple math, that’s regression,” noting Florida’s status as the nation’s second-largest concentration of Black residents. State lawmakers deny any racial motive, even as Governor Ron DeSantis’s office released color-coded maps showing Democrats losing half of their seats.

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• “Florida is home to the second largest concentration of Black residents in the country. Texas, then us.” — Dwight Bullard, senior political advisor, Florida Rising

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• “It really kind of puts the district in a very precarious position because if [Cherfilus-McCormick] were successful, there's still very much the real threat of her having to resign again,” — Dwight Bullard, senior political advisor, Florida Rising

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