Elijah Manley continues CD 20 run, stresses importance of Black representation

Democratic congressional candidate Elijah Manley plans to stay in the running in Florida’s 20th Congressional District. He also says it’s critically important that CD 20 remain represented by a Black lawmaker, something the Voting Rights Act has ensured for decades.

“This district was drawn under the Voting Rights Act because for generations, Black voters in the South were locked out of Congress. First through poll taxes, literacy tests, and outright violence, and then through maps designed to dilute Black votes until they didn’t count,” Manley said.

“John Lewis got his skull cracked open on the Edmund Pettus Bridge so seats like FL-20 could exist. And those wins are being rolled back right now.”

Manley remains the top fundraiser in the seat. He has raised nearly $780,000 to challenge former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. This month, Cherfilus-McCormick resigned amid a House Ethics investigation that revolved around allegedly siphoning $5 million in disaster relief to her congressional campaign, but she has continued to seek re-election.

Another complexity hit the campaign trail this week when Florida’s Legislature passed a map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. In anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court ultimately issued the same day the map passed, the Governor’s Office drew a “race neutral” map that dismantled CD 20.

The Louisiana v. Callais ruling, as anticipated, increases the requirements to justify a racially motivated district draw, a decision criticized by Democrats.

“The Supreme Court just narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Republican governors and legislatures across the South are nakedly drawing maps designed to erase Black congressional districts,” Manley said. “Redistricting experts predict more than a dozen minority-held seats could be swept away because of this.”

The proposed CD 20 on the DeSantis map remains 42% Black in terms of voting age population, down from 50% Black on the map in place since 2022. Since the map appeared to also dismantle Democrat-leaning seats represented by U.S. Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, there has been speculation if one of those lawmakers will run in CD 20 instead.

Manley said Black voters in CD 20 don’t want representation eroded.

“This is a historically Black district. And in this moment, with Ron DeSantis sitting working to dismantle Black representation in Florida, and the Supreme Court facilitating it, a non-black candidate running in a historically Black seat is a contribution to that project. There’s also something bigger. The power of the Congressional Black Caucus exists because Black voters in districts like this one send Black members to Congress,” Manley said.

“The voting rights bills, the police accountability bills, the bills that have moved this country forward on race, they happen because there’s a critical mass of Black members willing to make them happen. The CBC is often called the Conscience of the Congress because it serves as the primary voice for marginalized communities in this country and forces our country to confront the issues it would otherwise ignore. When a district like this loses Black representation, you don’t just lose one seat. You shrink the collective power that has pushed every piece of racial progress through Congress, and lose a voice our country still needs to live up to its promise.”