Facing legal troubles, Cherfilus-McCormick draws crowded field of Florida primary challengers

MIAMI — A field featuring a Miami rap legend. An incumbent who’s facing 15 criminal counts. A district singled out by Gov. Ron DeSantis for a redraw.

Welcome to Florida’s 20th District, where the race to represent an urban, Democratic part of the state with an embattled incumbent is set for a competitive midterm primary. And in the middle of it all is current officeholder Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the Democratic member of Congress facing a growing stack of legal and ethical problems amid her bid for reelection.

A trial over whether she stole $5 million in federal emergency funds — in which she has pleaded not guilty — is set for April. And in March, the Ethics Committee will hold a rare public hearing over "substantial evidence” of charges against her in a 59-page report. Some colleagues have called for her to resign or be expelled.

That has created growing demand for the seat, which includes parts of Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill and Belle Glade. In the last week, rapper and activist Luther Campbell and Rudolph Moise, a doctor and attorney, became the latest candidates to say they’re running for the seat. Former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, who sought the seat before, got into the race in late November, and civic activist Elijah Manley has been a contender for more than a year.

“I think a lot of people are taking the opportunity to jump in the race because they know either she won't be on the ballot or should be in a very weak place come the summer,” Manley said.

Holness chuckled when acknowledging that a “large group” was vying for the nomination. “There are 28 congressional races in Florida,” he said. “And the one that seems to be getting the most attention is CD-20 because of all that’s going on.”

Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November on 15 counts, including charges of allegedly stealing $5 million in federal emergency funds and directing some of those funds toward her winning congressional campaign. Prosecutors additionally allege the representative bought a $109,000, 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring with the money.

Authorities allege the crimes, which she has denied, occurred before Cherfilus-McCormick was elected to Congress. At the time, Cherfilus-McCormick was CEO of the family run company Trinity Health Care Services. According to an indictment, Trinity delivered $50,578.50 in services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But because of a clerical error from the Florida Division of Emergency Management that added extra zeroes to the reimbursement, they received an overpayment of more than $5 million. The Justice Department alleges Cherfilus-McCormick routed the overpayment through various accounts to mask it, and that “a substantial portion” was used as candidate contributions in her 2021 congressional campaign.

Since the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick has struggled with fundraising. She ended 2025 with nearly $107,000 cash on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, and paid a $100,000 fee from her campaign toward an attorney who’d previously been working on her case. Her current attorney, William Barzee, did not respond to questions about the case. Her office also didn’t respond to questions and postponed a town hall she had scheduled for Thursday evening.

Cherfilus-McCormick pointed to her record in a statement she provided to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, saying her constituents “know who shows up and who fights for them no matter what.”

She is the only member of Congress of Haitian descent and has been a vocal opponent of the Trump administration’s push to end temporary protected status for Haitians, which allows them to work in the U.S. without the threat of deportation.

The other candidates in the race, including Moise — who was born in Haiti — have said the issue is important to them.

Campbell, known as “Uncle Luke” from his time with the hip-hop group 2LiveCrew, didn’t mention Cherfilus-McCormick’s indictment when he told WPLG host Glenna Milberg of his intentions to run on “This Week in South Florida,” but did say he thought the area was “very underserved.” He also shared he had “Marco Rubio on speed dial.”

It remains to be seen the extent to which other big names may donate to Campbell’s campaign. He did not respond to efforts to reach him. Campbell is also known as a free speech advocate, having won a First Amendment case over one of his albums that federal authorities tried to block as obscene.

Asked about the indictment, Holness likewise didn’t delve into the charges and instead said he was focused on how to make life more affordable through promises to increase the minimum wage, build more housing and expand food assistance.

He lost the Democratic nomination for the seat in the 2021 special election by only five votes, and had the largest cash advantage in the primary at the end of 2025. He ended the year with around $200,000 on hand, roughly one-fifth of which he gave toward his campaign. Manley raised nearly $680,000, but spent most of it, with significant portions going to social media advertising. He said he felt “mixed” about how crowded the primary was becoming because he got in the contest early, before the indictment.

“I thought it was important to give people that choice and to make that contrast early,” he said. “And I think that pays off.”

Adding to the upheaval: DeSantis has said he wants the Legislature to convene a special session in April for mid-decade redistricting, meaning candidates don’t know precisely what their districts’ boundaries might look like. He has specifically called out CD-20 as “the most irregularly shaped district on Florida's map.”

Manley said the threat of redistricting had been a “pain in my side, for sure” given that it’s hard to know where to campaign. He also noted that donors have been hesitant to contribute when they’re not sure if a redraw would pit Maley against neighboring Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz or “that my district may not exist and they're wasting their money.”

But having a growing number of contenders in the race could also help Cherfilus-McCormick reach a plurality of votes and more easily get reelected, said Jacksonville-based Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker.

Coker noted the former longtime officeholder, the late Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, had comfortable reelections in the district despite the fact that, before running for office, he was impeached by the House and convicted as a federal judge on charges of bribery and perjury.

“That tells you a little bit about how much voters in that district really care about federal indictments against one of their own,” Coker said. “She will play to that audience and, if history repeats itself, could easily win a plurality of the vote.”