Healthcare executive Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s victory in Florida’s 20th Congressional District Democratic primary was certified by the state on Tuesday, winning by just five votes.
Florida’s Elections Canvassing Commission, comprised of Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, certified the results of the Democratic and Republican primaries for CD20.
“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 said. “This an enormous honor to carry.”
The Nov. 2nd primary triggered recount protocol after Cherfilus-McCormick and Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness finished with a difference smaller than 0.5% of each other.
tabulation of overseas and military ballots in the race was completed with no additional votes for Cherfilus-McCormick or Holness.
Cherfilus-McCormick will face Republican primary winner Jason Mariner in the Jan. 11th, 2022 special election. District 20, which represents Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, is one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the state, leading Cherfilus-McCormick to be an early heavy favorite in the race.
“The voter’s voices and their faith in me to get the job done has helped me carry this torch to the finish line, but we are not done yet. We still have to show up in January for the general election and look forward to representing and showing up for everyone in the district,” said Cherfilus-McCormick.
The voters voices and their faith in me to get the job done has helped me carry this torch to the finish line, but we are not done yet. We still have to show up in January for the general election and look forward to representing and showing up for everyone in the district. /4
— Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, JD (@Sheila4Congress) November 13, 2021
The family of the late Alcee Hastings endorsed Holness, but he was outspent 10-to-1 by the self-funded Cherfilus-McCormick, who spent upwards of $3.7 million in the race.
Cherfilus-McCormick unsuccessfully primaried Hastings for his seat in 2018 and 2020. The election was marked by extremely low voter turnout with just 49,000 votes cast amongst a population center of nearly 783,000.
In 2020, the district cast over 90,000 votes in the Democratic primary where Hastings defeated Cherfilus-McCormick by a 69.3% to 30.7% margin.
County Commissioner Barbara Sharief finished third with 17.6% of the vote, followed by Sen. Perry Thurston at 14.84%, Rep. Bobby DuBose at 7.05%, and Rep. Omari Hardy at 5.92%.