‘Vote you out.’ Sharief attacks Book in Broward battle over abortion bill amendment
South Florida’s closely-watched Democratic state Senate primary in Broward County is heating up — and getting personal.
Former Broward Commissioner Barbara Sharief slammed her primary opponent — Democrats’ top senator, Lauren Book — over what Sharief said was deficient leadership and a failure to hold Republicans accountable on abortion rights.
Kicking off a war of words in what is likely to be a competitive Democratic primary in the newly-redrawn Senate District 35, Sharief — who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year in a crowded race for Florida’s District 20 — attacked Book over her decision not to force a roll call vote while the state Senate debated including exemptions for rape, incest and human-trafficking victims in the 15-week abortion ban during this past legislative session. The bill, officially called the Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act, ultimately passed the Republican-controlled Legislature and was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last month at a Kissimmee church.
“I don’t think that we need Democrats in there that are going to bow down so that they can get small wins,” Sharief said Thursday during a press conference in Miramar, where she unveiled her social justice and immigration platform. “We need Democrats in there that are going to say, ‘If you don’t help me to represent my people, I’m going to make sure that they go to the polls and vote you out.’ And that’s the message here, that’s the movement that we need to start.”
Speaking about Book directly, Sharief slammed the minority leader’s decision not to press her Democratic colleagues to force Republicans to record their position on including exemptions for rape, incest and human-trafficking victims.
“We’re not going to raise hands on this amendment. We’re going to do a voice vote,” Book said while the Senate debated the amendment in March.
Under Senate rules, bill amendments are voted on by a voice vote, the result of which is determined by the senator presiding over the chamber. If the voice vote is in doubt, and five senators challenge the result by raising a hand, lawmakers must record their vote.
Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, a supporter of the abortion bill, ruled that senators voted down the rape and incest amendment. Democrats did not challenge the ruling in the moment, letting their Republican colleagues’ stances on including rape and incest exceptions go unrecorded.
“As the Senate minority leader, she could’ve called for a vote, a hand vote, instead of the voice vote, to put them on record and let women know that they vote against them,” Sharief said. “And right now, with her in charge, we have no protections for women or kids who’ve experienced rape, sexual abuse and pregnancy as a result of incest, molestation or sexual abuse. I think that’s deplorable.”
She added: “Senator Book may say she’s vocal, but she would not hold the Republicans accountable.”
During the Senate’s debate on the abortion bill, Book revealed a stunning personal story of being drugged and raped by several men as a child, as she pleaded with Republican leadership to amend the bill to exempt rape victims.
Book’s communications director, Claire VanSusteren, defended Book and shot back at Sharief’s comments in a statement, saying they were “lies and offensive remarks” on her record with sexual assault survivors, women and child protection.
“For Barbara Sharief to host a press conference attacking a victim of sexual assault who has dedicated her life to keeping children and sexual assault survivors safe shows that Barbara Sharief is clearly on an ego-driven power trip and not a mission to serve,” the statement read, citing Book’s own advocacy and support for legislation to protect survivors of child sexual abuse and assault. “In the State of Florida, there is no greater champion for survivors of sexual assault and no one who works harder to keep children safe than Lauren Book — she’s got the track record to prove it.”
New district, familiar territory for Sharief
The new Senate district includes a highly diverse part of Broward County, including Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Southwest Ranches, Cooper City, Weston and parts of Davie and Hollywood.
At Miramar, Sharief rolled out a $100,000 TV, radio and digital ad buy promoting her platform for social justice, which includes overturning the controversial 2021 protest law HB 1, supporting legislation to prevent future governors from interfering with the redistricting process and other bills to prevent law enforcement from targeting Black and brown residents.
Sharief also said she supported more government services for undocumented immigrants in the district, including access to social services like healthcare and food stamps.
When asked to respond to criticism in her party about running against the Democratic leader in the Senate, Sharief pointed out that it wasn’t her decision to run against Book but the other way around and said Book is new to the district.
“I didn’t decide to run against Lauren Book, Lauren Book decided to come down here and run against me. This is a district that I’ve lived in for 21 years, and that I represented the people for 13 years,” Sharief said. She also said it was important for a Democratic Black woman to represent her district, at a time when DeSantis reduced Black-access seats in the newly-drawn congressional map.
Sharief also accused Book of voting in favor of the 2021 education bill that included a provision that targeted trans athletes. Sharief said she got strong support from the LGBTQ community in her failed bid for Congress.
Christian Ulvert, Book’s senior adviser, said he was “disgusted” by what he said were Sharief’s attempts to “weaponize the LGBT community against Lauren Book.”
While Book voted in favor of the first version of the education bill, it was amended at the 11th hour before the end of the 60-day legislative session to revive the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.” Book voted against that version of the bill.
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau staff writer Kirby Wilson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 7:38 PM.
