If you've followed the Democratic Party for more than five minutes, nothing about this story should surprise you. It should disgust you, but surprise? Not even a little. Too many Democrats have a chronic inability to recognize when it's time to leave gracefully. To them, power is their birthright, ethics are an obstacle, and accountability is something that happens to other people.
Remember former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who used to represent Florida's 20th Congressional District, and literally just resigned in disgrace this week, like, literally about 30 minutes before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to publicly recommend punishment against her? Well, she is still running for reelection.
She filed for reelection mere days before her resignation, and NOTUS reports that a campaign aide confirmed that she is indeed running.
Remember, the committee had already found her responsible for 25 ethics violations — including allegations that she siphoned $5 million in federal disaster-aid funds to prop up her 2021 campaign, and committed a whole bunch of campaign finance violations. The investigation spanned two years and involved 58 subpoenas, 28 witnesses, and more than 33,000 documents.
They built a devastating case, so she walked out the door before they could read the verdict aloud — not much different from what Eric Swalwell had just done.
Her resignation left the 20th Congressional District seat vacant and it is unclear when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to fill the vacancy. The Republican-led Legislature is also debating whether to redraw district maps in the state.
There are now at least five others running in the Democratic primary: the prominent 1990s rapper Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, Mark Douglas, Maisha Williams, Dale Holness and Elijah Manley. Manley came to Washington last month to sit in on a rare public Ethics Committee trial.
Separate from the House investigation, Cherfilus-McCormick faces criminal charges related to COVID-19 relief funds she received during the pandemic. A judge postponed her trial date earlier this month to Feb. 2027. A request for comment on Friday evening went unanswered.
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At least one of her Democratic primary rivals had the decency to call it what it is. "Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned in disgrace moments before her colleagues were set to expel her from Congress," Elijah Manley told NOTUS. "The last thing our community needs is a second round of chaos and instability. She should focus on her legal troubles."
That’s all fine and good, but Cherfilus-McCormick may still win.
One veteran Florida Democratic operative suggested Cherfilus-McCormick would have a fair shot at winning reelection because the district is heavily reliant on name recognition, adding that the expensive media markets — which span from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale — would make it difficult for a newcomer to break through.
But, the political operative added: “While we would have to check with the lawyers to see if Cherfilus-McCormick can run using Cell Block C as her residence, it isn’t clear that there is anyone in that district who can beat her if she runs again.”
Would Democrat voters in her district vote her back in? It wouldn’t shock me one bit. As I’ve written about before, Democratic voters are notorious for refusing to hold their own party members accountable. Over the years, several Democratic members of Congress continued winning elections despite serious scandals. In 1983, Gerry Studds was censured over an underage page scandal, but won reelection repeatedly until retiring in 1997. In 1994, Mel Reynolds was reelected to Congress despite sexual assault charges involving an underage campaign worker. Alcee Hastings, impeached as a judge in 1989, served decades in Congress despite ongoing ethics controversies into the 2010s. Jack Murtha remained in Congress for years after his 1980 ABSCAM bribery scandal. Barney Frank survived a late-1980s prostitution scandal and served in the House until 2013. In 2018, Keith Ellison was elected as Minnesota Attorney General despite domestic abuse allegations.
That’s just a few examples.
Does that mean Cherfilus-McCormick will get elected to the seat she just resigned from? Not necessarily, but again, it wouldn’t be shocking at all.
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