Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is ‘apparent winner’ of FL-20 Democratic primary

Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott declared healthcare executive Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick the “apparent winner” of the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings after a review of overseas and military ballots on Friday, giving the one-time political long shot who mounted two previous ill-fated campaigns a likely spot in Congress.

The only new vote that affected the razor-thin race between Cherfilus-McCormick and Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness on Friday was a ballot Cherfilus-McCormick earlier tried to have tossed out in court.

Naturally, once the ballot was opened, the vote was for Cherfilus-McCormick.

Cherfilus-McCormick expanded her lead over Holness to five votes after the Broward County Canvassing Board considered 16 potential overseas and military ballots that arrived ahead of Friday afternoon’s deadline. The final tally in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, which includes majority Black portions of Broward and Palm Beach counties, was 11,662 votes for Cherfilus-McCormick and 11,657 votes for Holness, after both counties submitted official results.

“I am proud to be recognized tonight finally as the Democratic nominee for Florida’s 20th Congressional District following Alcee Hastings’ legacy of fighting for the rights and welfare of the common person,” Cherfilus-McCormick tweeted shortly after Scott said she was the apparent winner. “This an enormous honor to carry.”

Cherfilus-McCormick’s success in an 11-candidate field that included five sitting politicians was propelled by her personal wealth. She loaned her campaign more than $4 million, a vast sum that far surpassed the rest of the field who struggled to court donors for a deep blue seat that did not generate national attention.

Just over 49,000 voters cast ballots in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, which has more than 800,000 residents. The district is the most Democratic-leaning in the state.

Cherfilus-McCormick, barring a successful legal challenge from Holness, is almost certain to get elected to Congress after a January 11th general election. She will face a slate of minor candidates. Republican nominee Jason Mariner’s candidacy is in limbo after he did not go through the state’s process to restore his civil rights after imprisonment.

A progressive-styled candidate

Cherfilus-McCormick was among the more left-leaning candidates in the race. She previously told the Miami Herald she favors a Medicare-for-all style healthcare system, a $20 per hour minimum wage, would join the Congressional Progressive Caucus if elected and campaigned on a “People’s Prosperity Plan” that gives any adult making less than $75,000 per year a $1,000 a month payment with no strings attached. While other candidates in the race were endorsed by members of Congress or prominent local politicians, Cherfilus-McCormick’s highest-profile endorsement was from Marianne Williamson, a spiritual adviser and long-shot former presidential candidate.

“I will be talking to my attorneys in the next few days to determine our course of action,” Holness said in a text message Friday evening.

Holness’ legal team attempted to challenge 11 ballots on Friday during a two-hour Broward Canvassing Board meeting that featured a lengthy debate on what constitutes an overseas voter who has 10 extra days to get their ballot to the county elections office. Scott said that “overseas” actually means voters who are not present in the United States and give evidence of being in another country on their ballot. So a voter in Hawaii would not have their vote counted, but a voter in Canada would.

Florida law allows voters who can prove they voted overseas an extra 10 days to have their ballot counted, provided that their vote was actually cast on or before Election Day.

Scott’s reasoning led the board to reject 11 of the 16 ballots that were potential late-arriving overseas ballots, as the voters in question checked a box that they were members of the military or their spouses but did not provide any proof that they cast their vote from outside the United States.

Ultimately, the board accepted five of the 16 ballots, and Holness’ legal team protested the rejected ballots, which allows them to be subject to a potential legal challenge.

“I’m clear on what you think, but I’m not sure that the laws agree with you,” said Broward Canvassing Board chairwoman and Judge Deborah Carpenter-Toye in response to one of Holness’ attorneys.

The third member of the canvassing board, Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, voted to consider three additional ballots but was out-voted by Carpenter-Toye and Scott.

“I have a very difficult time disenfranchising a member of the military,” Udine said, prompting applause in the room. Scott countered that accepting late votes because the voter checked a box indicating that they are in the military would likely not stand up in court and said “it will not make Broward County look good.”

No new votes for the top two

None of the five newly accepted votes went to Cherfilus-McCormick or Holness. One vote that prompted a lengthy debate between the two campaigns but was accepted was revealed to be a GOP primary vote for Mariner once opened, prompting laughter from the room.

Palm Beach County’s vote total was unchanged on Friday after no overseas or military ballots were presented to the county’s canvassing board.

Cherfilus-McCormick ended last week’s machine and hand recounts with a four-vote lead over Holness. The total turnout in the primary election was about 16%.

On Thursday, Cherfilus-McCormick filed a lawsuit against Holness and the Broward County Canvassing Board after it accepted three vote-by-mail ballots where the signatures on the ballot envelope did not appear to match the signatures on file with the supervisor of elections. The Canvassing Board voted 2-1 during its November 5 meeting to accept three ballots out of six that had previously been rejected due to signature issues. The board said that a follow-up telephone call with a voter who sent in one of the disputed ballots confirmed the the voter’s intentions to cast a ballot in the primary election.

The three ballots were set aside during last week’s recount and were scheduled to be counted on Friday. On Friday morning, Cherfilus-McCormick lost her case against Holness and the Canvassing Board, though the judge ruled that the three ballots in question should be separated from the rest in case Cherfilus-McCormick wants to file future litigation.

Cherfilus-McCormick ultimately benefited in spite of her litigation.

Cherfilus-McCormick could face voters again in as little as nine months, with the 2022 Democratic primary scheduled for August.

Holness built a large lead among voters in Broward County, which accounts for about 75% of the district’s voters. But Cherfilus-McCormick won Palm Beach County and performed better in Broward County than Holness did in Palm Beach, which led to the race’s virtual tie.

This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 6:36 PM.