Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (born January 25, 1979) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the U.S representative for

Florida's 20th congressional district Florida's 20th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in Southeast Florida. It is currently held by Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who was elected in a January 2022 special election, following the death of Alcee Hasti ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, she won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

in 2022 to fill the seat left vacant after the death of

Alcee Hastings Alcee Lamar Hastings ( ; September 5, 1936 – April 6, 2021) was an American politician and judge from the state of Florida. Hastings was nominated to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by President Jimmy Cart ...

Early life and career

Cherfilus-McCormick was born in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough of New York City, to parents from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and raised in the borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. She moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

at 13 to attend high school. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and government from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

St. Thomas University School of Law Benjamin L. Crump College of Law is one of the graduate schools of St. Thomas University located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The College of Law was founded in 1984. According to its 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 54.7% of the Class of 2017 obta ...

. After graduating from college, Cherfilus-McCormick served as a project manager for the

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City. P ...

. From 1999 to 2007, she worked as the vice president for operations of Trinity Health Care Services, a Florida-based family home health care company co-founded by her stepfather, Gabriel Smith. She later served as CEO.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Cherfilus-McCormick ran for

in the August 28 Democratic primary against incumbent

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. She lost, 73.6%–26.4%.

2020

Cherfilus-McCormick challenged Hastings again in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. She noted various ethics concerns facing Hastings and his health as reasons for running. She lost the August 18 primary, 69.3%–30.7%.

2022 special

After Hastings died on April 6, 2021, Cherfilus-McCormick ran again in the 20th district in the 2022 special election. During the campaign, she loaned $3.7 million to her campaign organization. She campaigned on progressive policies such as a

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...

, and a $1,000-a-month

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

. Her campaign was supported by

Brand New Congress Brand New Congress is an American political action committee with the mission to elect hundreds of new progressive congressional representatives in line with the campaign's political platform. Background Brand New Congress is a volunteer-le ...

, a progressive organization that also backed candidates such as

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

and

Rashida Tlaib Rashida Harbi Tlaib (, ; born July 24, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. The district includes the western half of Detroit, along with several of its western suburbs and much of the D ...

. After a recount, Cherfilus-McCormick was declared the winner of the Democratic primary by five votes over Broward County commissioner

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

. She easily defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Jason Mariner in the January 11, 2022, general election. She is the only

Haitian-American Haitian Americans (french: Haïtiens-Américains; ht, ayisyen ameriken) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area ...

Democrat ever elected to Congress and only the second overall, after Republican

Mia Love Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983 ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Committee assignments

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

* Committee on Veterans' Affairs *

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

* Committee on Foreign Affairs

Caucus memberships

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce ...

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus had 165 members (164 Democrats and one Republican, Jeff Van Drew) in the 116th ...

Personal life

Cherfilus-McCormick married lawyer Corlie McCormick in 2017 and lives in

Miramar, Florida Miramar is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 134,721. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which is home to approximately six million people. History Miramar wa ...

Electoral history

;2018 ;2020 ;2022 (special)

2022

References

External links

Representative Cherfilus-McCormick
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila 1979 births 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women politicians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American women in business African-American women in politics African-American women lawyers African-American lawyers American politicians of Haitian descent Businesspeople from Florida Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Female members of the United States House of Representatives Florida lawyers Howard University alumni Living people People from Miramar, Florida St. Thomas University (Florida) alumni