The 2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election was a special election to the United States House of Representatives. The seat had been vacant since incumbent Democratic representative Alcee Hastings died on April 6, 2021, of pancreatic cancer.

The special election was scheduled by Governor Ron DeSantis to be held on January 11, 2022. The primary elections were held on November 2, 2021. This left the seat vacant for 9 months, substantially longer than the delay for previous special elections.

Democratic primary

Campaign

Following Hastings' death, 11 Democratic candidates made the primary ballot to replace him.

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Disqualified

  • Natalia Allen, author
  • Matt Boswell, businessman
  • Krystal Jordan, counselor
  • Marlon Onias, attorney
  • Pradel Vilme, former Miami International Airport official

Declined

Debates

A two-part debate was held on September 15, 2021.

2022 Florida's 20th congressional district Democratic primary debates
No.Date & timeHostModeratorLinkParticipants
Key: P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee W Withdrawn
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormickBobby DuBoseOmari HardyDale HolnessBarbara ShariefPriscilla TaylorPerry Thurston Jr.
1October 24, 2021WPBFTodd McDermottPAPPPAP

Endorsements

Individuals

Organizations

Labor unions

U.S. representatives

State legislators

State legislators

Newspapers and publications

Organizations

State legislators

County officials

Local officials

Labor unions

U.S. representatives

County officials

Newspapers and publications

Organizations

State legislators

County officials

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorSheila Cherfilus-McCormickBobby DuBoseOmari HardyDale HolnessBarbara ShariefPriscilla TaylorPerry ThurstonOtherUndecided
Expedition Strategies (D)October 20–24, 2021500 (LV)± 4.4%15%6%5%14%13%2%10%2%32%
Data for Progress (D)July 6–7, 2021314 (LV)± 5.0%6%5%10%17%14%6%8%5%29%
Public Policy Polling (D)April 2021416 (LV)± 4.8%–7%–13%6%–11%12%50%
–––11%7%–14%14%53%
–––15%11%–15%–59%

Results

Per Florida law, because the margin separating Cherfilus-McCormick and Holness was less than 0.5%, a recount was held. Ballots received by November 12 from overseas were accepted. The two candidates were two votes apart as some ballots that had been cast were still in dispute. On November 12, over a week after the primary, the Broward County canvassing board declared Cherfilus-McCormick the winner after a recount failed to change the vote totals. However, Holness did not immediately concede, pointing out that the board had rejected twelve overseas military ballots. He said he would confer with a lawyer to decide whether or not to challenge the results. The Palm Beach County canvassing board voted to certify the election results on the same day. State officials certified the results on November 16.

Cherfilus-McCormick won in Palm Beach County, receiving 30% of the vote. Meanwhile, Holness won in Broward County, where he serves as county commissioner, with 29% of the vote.

Results by county Cherfilus-McCormick—30–40% Holness—20%-30%
Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticSheila Cherfilus-McCormick11,66223.76%
DemocraticDale Holness11,65723.75%
DemocraticBarbara Sharief8,68017.69%
DemocraticPerry E. Thurston Jr.7,28214.84%
DemocraticBobby DuBose3,4587.05%
DemocraticOmari Hardy2,9025.91%
DemocraticPriscilla Taylor1,6773.42%
DemocraticElvin Dowling6461.32%
DemocraticEmmanuel Morel4540.93%
DemocraticPhil Jackson3420.70%
DemocraticImran Siddiqui3160.64%
Total votes49,074100.00%

Aftermath

Holness filed a lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court on November 29 asking it to overturn the election results, alleging Cherfilus-McCormick to be "ineligible to hold office." The lawsuit asserts that Cherfilus-McCormick did not file proper financial paperwork and that her support for a universal basic income of $1,000 per month amounted to bribing voters. Holness claimed that voters had asked workers at polling places "where they collect the $1,000 from, so they expected to get $1,000." Election lawyer and former state representative Juan-Carlos Planas described the lawsuit as a "Hail Mary pass" and doubted it would be successful. Don James, an attorney for Holness, acknowledged that the challenge likely would not be resolved in time for the election. Mail-in ballots for the special election with Cherfilus-McCormick listed as the Democratic nominee were sent out beginning on December 3.

On December 6, Cherfilus-McCormick's attorneys filed a lengthy brief in response to the lawsuit that disputed its claims, calling it "a desperate attempt to overturn the will of the voters." In response to the allegation of bribery, the brief points out that promising monetary benefits to voters is common, comparing Cherfilus-McCormick's support for a universal basic income to "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage," a slogan used by former president Herbert Hoover in his 1928 presidential campaign. The brief also claims that Holness's complaint was filed too late and is thus invalid, and asks the judge to dismiss it and order Holness to pay Cherfilus-McCormick's legal fees. Ultimately, Holness's challenge fell flat, as no judge took up the case.

Republican primary

Campaign

Two Republicans made the primary ballot, businessman Jason Mariner and Greg Musselwhite, who had been the Republican nominee for the seat in 2020. The two men cut different appearances on the campaign trail, with Mariner presenting himself in a clean-cut fashion while Musselwhite campaigned in a more folksy manner. A substantial part of Mariner's campaign was based around his turning his life around after previously being imprisoned twice on various felony charges. Musselwhite attacked Mariner for his prior felony convictions, claiming in a later-deleted Facebook post that voters had a choice between "the correctional officer or the inmate".

Mariner ran as an "America First conservative", promoting false claims that the results of the 2020 presidential election were illegitimate, as well as making statements in support of the rioters at the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack and the Confederate Flag, which he defended as a "battle flag that was later co-opted by racist groups".

Candidates

Nominee

  • Jason Mariner, businessman

Eliminated in primary

  • Gregory "Greg" Musselwhite, welding inspector and nominee for this district in 2020

Disqualified

Endorsements

U.S. representatives

State officials

Newspapers and publications

Individuals

Results

Results by county Mariner—50–60%
Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
RepublicanJason Mariner3,50057.8%
RepublicanGregory Musselwhite2,55242.2%
Total votes6,052100.0%

Independent and third-party candidates

Libertarian Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

Disqualified

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political ReportSolid DOctober 15, 2021
Inside ElectionsSolid DJanuary 10, 2022
Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DMay 20, 2021

Endorsements

Endorsements in bold were made after the primary elections.

State officials

County officials

Individuals

Organizations

Labor unions

U.S. representatives

State officials

Individuals

Newspapers and publications

Results

As expected by election prognosticators, Cherfilus-McCormick won the election by a landslide, winning 79% of the popular vote. In spite of this, Mariner refused to concede, threatening to file a lawsuit to dispute the results.

2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DemocraticSheila Cherfilus-McCormick44,70778.96%+0.29
RepublicanJason Mariner10,96619.37%–1.95
LibertarianMike ter Maat3950.70%N/A
IndependentJim Flynn2650.47%N/A
IndependentLenny Serratore2620.46%N/A
Write-inShelley Fain220.04%N/A
Total votes56,617100.0%
Democratic hold
By county
County Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Democratic Jason Mariner Republican Mike ter Maat Libertarian Various candidates Other parties Margin Total votes # % # % # % # % # % Broward (part) 32,867 82.74 6,228 15.68 252 0.63 375 0.94 26,639 67.06 39,722 Palm Beach (part) 11,840 70.08 4,738 28.04 143 0.85 174 1.03 7,102 42.04 16,895 Totals 44,707 78.96 10,966 19.37 395 0.70 549 0.97 33,741 59.59 56,617
CountySheila Cherfilus-McCormick DemocraticJason Mariner RepublicanMike ter Maat LibertarianVarious candidates Other partiesMarginTotal votes
#%#%#%#%#%
Broward (part)32,86782.746,22815.682520.633750.9426,63967.0639,722
Palm Beach (part)11,84070.084,73828.041430.851741.037,10242.0416,895
Totals44,70778.9610,96619.373950.705490.9733,74159.5956,617

See also

Notes

Partisan clients

External links

Official campaign websites