Ten candidates qualify for special elections triggered by resign-to-run vacancies
Ten candidates qualified to run in special elections in three Florida legislative races next year, after the seats were emptied by state lawmakers who were vying to replace the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings in a crowded congressional election.
The seats in Broward and Palm Beach counties — Senate District 33 and House Districts 88 and 94 — are scheduled to be filled in a general election on March 8, 2022. The primary elections are set to take place on Jan. 11, 2022.
Only one Democratic candidate in HD 88, Rick King, did not qualify by Wednesday’s noon deadline. In a text message, King told the Herald his campaign “had a clerical error that prevented us from qualifying,” but said he planned to continue to campaign and run in the regular 2022 August primary.
The candidates who qualified in SD 33, which includes the northern part of Fort Lauderdale and parts of Pompano Beach, are Democrats Terry Edden and Rosalind Osgood and Republican Joseph Carter.
In HD 88 — a thin Palm Beach district that runs along the coast and includes Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach — the candidates who qualified are Democrats Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds, Clarence Williams, and Guarina Torres, a Republican.
And in HD 94, a Broward district that overlaps with SD 33 in parts of Fort Lauderdale, the candidates who qualified are Daryl Campbell, Josephus Eggelletion III, Rod Kemp and Elijah Manley. All are Democrats.
Campbell is the only candidate in all three races who qualified by petition, rather than paying the qualifying fee.
Sen. Perry Thurston, of SD 33; Rep. Omari Hardy, of HD 88; and Rep. Bobby DuBose, all resigned from their seats this summer to run in the Democratic primary for Florida’s Congressional District 20 special election. The winner in that 11-candidate field race, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, led Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness by just five votes. After a machine recount last week, she was declared to be the Democratic nominee and front runner ahead of the Jan. 11 general election against Republican Jason Mariner.
The timeline for the three state elections has drawn controversy and a lawsuit from the Harvard Election Law Clinic asking for a Leon County judge to compel Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has the authority to call special elections triggered by vacancies, to declare the dates for the special election.
DeSantis delayed calling for elections in all three districts for months, despite the fact that the three legislators had resigned from their seats in July. On Oct. 27., he signed an executive order setting the dates for the special elections.
All three districts are overwhelmingly Democratic, with majority Black populations, and were all represented by Black lawmakers. The delay in setting the election dates essentially ensures that the three candidates who are elected won’t vote during the legislative session that is set to start on Jan. 11, 2022 and conclude March 11.
It gives the winners just three days to participate in the legislative session, and it’s unlikely they would be sworn into office before the Legislature adjourns.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 5:04 PM.
