Broward elects former legislative aide to succeed his boss in Tallahassee
.jpeg "Daryl Campbell, candidate for Florida House District 94")
Daryl Campbell, a 35-year-old mental health specialist from Lauderdale Lakes, is the winner of Broward County’s House District 94 race with nearly all precincts reporting Tuesday, in an election that was expected to have an unusually low turnout because of the oddly timed Election Day schedule.
The Broward election for three legislative seats — along with overlapping Senate District 33 and House District 88 in Palm Beach County — was called to replace Rep. Bobby DuBose, Sen. Perry Thurston and Rep. Omari Hardy, who all resigned to run for higher office.
All three ran, unsuccessfully, in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 20th Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died last April of pancreatic cancer. The vacant seats are all in majority-Black districts and are considered safely Democratic.
Campbell, who worked for DuBose as a legislative aide, had no Republican or other opponents who qualified in the race against him, which means the race is effectively decided in Tuesday’s primary election. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Chris Sprowls said in a statement that Campbell would be sworn in right away once he becomes the certified winner.
“When the Secretary of State sends the House the certification letter identifying the winner of the election, then the speaker will swear that person in as a member of the Florida House,” said spokeswoman Jenna Sarkissian.
There is some precedent of Republican leadership relying on a particular interpretation of Florida law to wait until the general election to swear in a winner. When former state Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Coral Springs Democrat, was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to be director of the Division of Emergency Management in 2019, Moskowitz was replaced in a special election by Rep. Dan Daley. Although Daley was elected in the primary, he was not sworn in until after the general election.
Campbell beat out his three other opponents: Elijah Manley, Rod Kemp and Josephus Eggelletion III.
Campbell, who founded his own clinical practice Voice Unplugged, told the Miami Herald Monday that he ran to address the mental health crisis afflicting his community.
In Broward’s Senate District 33, voters chose Rosalind Osgood to be the Democratic nominee. She will face off against Republican Joseph Carter in the March 8th general election. The legislative session is scheduled to end March 11.
And in Palm Beach’s House District 88, voters elected Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds to be the Democratic nominee. Edmonds will be on the ballot with Guarina Torres, the Republican nominee.
Osgood, a longtime community activist, recently resigned as the chair of the Broward County School Board.
“Of course I am very humbled and appreciative that the community once again has given me an opportunity to serve them, this time in a different capacity,” Osgood said from her home, where she watched results with family and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters. “This is my fourth time running, and each time the community has said yes.”
Edmonds said he wished the election was set for an earlier date so he would have the opportunity to serve during the 2022 session.
“I wish I could go up there today to start fighting for the people of my district,” he said.
The vacancies during Florida’s legislative session, which began officially on Tuesday, will mean Democrats will have an even weaker position in both chambers of the Republican-led state Legislature. The vacant seat in the state senate drops the numbers for the minority party to 15, compared to the 24 Republicans.
In the House, there will now be 41 Democrats in the 120-member chamber, and 78 Republicans.
While Democrats already have little power to block legislative priorities from DeSantis and Republicans, the vacancies add to a void in representation for large swaths of South Florida’s residents in a year of pivotal state budget decisions and redistricting, the once-a-decade redrawing of state and congressional district maps.
Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 8:16 PM.
