Florida House Democratic co-leader announces bid for Alcee Hastings’ former seat

State Rep. Bobby DuBose entered the race on Tuesday for Alcee Hastings’ former congressional seat after his death on April 6, the fourth sitting lawmaker to enter a crowded Democratic primary.

DuBose, 50, represents most of Fort Lauderdale in the Florida House of Representatives and currently serves as House minority co-leader. He was first elected to the state House in 2014 after serving as a Fort Lauderdale city commissioner and vice mayor from 2009 to 2014.

In an interview, DuBose said he decided to join a growing field to replace Hastings after fielding calls from constituents urging him to run. He said his combined experience in state and local government differentiates him from the large field of at least nine candidates.

“Part of what I call a lane for myself is I’m the only candidate that has local experience, serving in a local body and in a state body not only being effective for my constituents but to actually pass legislation,” DuBose said, adding that though he’s from “blue, blue Broward” his political career began as the only Black member of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission.

“I was serving on the city commission as the only African-American, I was the only minority, but I was still effectively able to deliver for the area I represented,” he said.

DuBose’s announcement comes a day after state Sen. Perry Thurston announced a run for Hastings’ former seat. Thurston’s Fort Lauderdale-based Senate seat overlaps with DuBose’s House seat, and Thurston used to represent what is now DuBose’s House seat before facing term limits.

Broward County Commissioners Dale V.C. Holness and Barbara Sharief are the other sitting politicians to announce a run for Hastings’ former seat, which he represented since its creation in 1993.

The Democratic primary also includes five other candidates: Former state representative and 2019 West Palm Beach mayoral candidate Priscilla Taylor; Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a healthcare executive from Hollywood who ran against Hastings in 2020 and received 30.7% of the vote in the Democratic primary; Marlon Onias, a Fort Lauderdale attorney; Elvin Dowling, a public speaker and author from Broward County; and Matt Boswell, a Fort Lauderdale resident running on a left-leaning platform.

The Democratic primary will almost certainly decide who ends up filling Hastings’ seat in a special election that has yet to be scheduled by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Republican Greg Musselwhite, who ran against Hastings in the 2020 general election, filed paperwork to run again after receiving just 21% of the vote last year.

DuBose said many of the issues being debated in Tallahassee are part of larger, national conversations that dominate Washington, voting access and criminal justice in particular. While Democrats in Washington are trying to pass a bill to expand voting rights and change campaign finance laws and a bill to ban police from using choke holds, no-knock warrants and removing legal protections for police officers, Republicans in state legislatures around the country, including Florida, are attempting to pass bills that increase requirements for voting and criminal penalties for protests that turn violent.

“This is not unique to Florida, these are actually national narratives that are being created,” DuBose said. “We saw what was passed in Georgia, these are big issues I’m currently dealing with that are more national. [Congress] is dealing with these very same issues in D.C.”

DuBose acknowledged that Democrats in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, a majority Black seat that includes portions of southern Broward County around Miramar, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, will decide the district’s next representative. But he wasn’t willing to align himself with a particular faction of the Democratic Party, as more left-leaning lawmakers continue to push President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to go further on issues like healthcare and reducing police funding to increase mental health and social services.

“I wouldn’t go up and put myself in one box,” DuBose said. “I don’t take a blanket approach, it just depends on the issue we’re dealing with.”