You can watch this episode of Right Now With Perry Bacon above or by following this show on YouTube or Substack. You can read a transcript here.
Florida Republicans totally changed the state’s districts earlier this year to create more GOP-held U.S. House seats. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the one-time Democratic National Committee chair who has been in the House since 2005, is among those whose district has been redrawn. So instead of running in the now Republican-leading 25th District that she currently represents, the congresswoman is seeking another term from the 20th District in South Florida, which is heavily Democratic. But the area that now comprises the 20th District has long been represented by a Black House member. So the 20th District primary has turned into a battle over race and ideology. Several Black candidates are running and blasting Wasserman Schultz for pursuing a seat that could be held by a Black person at a time when Republicans are diminishing Black representation throughout the South. One of those Black candidates is Elijah Manley, an educator. In the latest edition of Right Now, Manley discussed both his candidacy and the divides within the Democratic Party. He criticized Wasserman Schultz for past votes for military aid to Israel, said the Democratic Party needed more fighters, and described himself as a progressive in the mold of Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The primary is August 18.
