PARKER: Debbie Wasserman Schultz spotlights a new Democratic Party dilemma

White candidate running in Florida’s 20th Congressional District shows flawed thinking from the Dems

Published Aug 23, 2026  •  Last updated 54 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Democratic Congressional candidate Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) campaigns outside of the Kings Point Clubhouse polling station on Aug. 18, 2026, in Tamarac, Fla. Wasserman Schultz is running in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, a former majority-Black district redrawn by Republicans to take away that status. Photo by Joe Raedle /Getty Images

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A contentious primary in Florida’s 20th congressional district has shined a spotlight on the massive split in today’s Democratic Party and has put Black voters there in a dilemma. After Florida recently changed its congressional maps, long-time Democratic operative Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz decided to run for reelection in the newly drawn District 20 that had long tied its roots to being one of the original majority-Black districts created after the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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It’s impossible to ignore the racial optics in the race, where Wasserman Schultz of Jewish heritage has created a conundrum for Democrats. Her very presence in the race challenges the most fundamental assumption about Democratic politics: that ethnic representation translates into beneficial policies.

Following the logic of traditional Black Democrats, a Wasserman Schultz victory spells doom for Black political power. Political rivals in the district see her as a carpetbagger trying to take a Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) seat. Wasserman Schultz sees her work as essential to the interests of the Democratic Party and brought in big guns to prove it.

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Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kan., a past CBC chair and friend going back 20 years, campaigned for her in the district and called it a “tough situation.” His assessment of the situation would be laughable if it weren’t so pathetic.

Politico quoted him saying: “Wouldn’t it be ugly if I’m driving down the street with Debbie Wasserman Schultz in my red convertible, and I see an African American standing on the road without a ride, and they ask me to stop, put Debbie out of the car? Let them get in because they are African American? I don’t roll like that.”

But you, sir, and the entire CBC do “roll like that,” and Black political elites have been “rolling like that” since the ’70s with your forced race politics of affirmative action, multiculturalism and DEI.

Republicans understand that ethnicity should have no bearing on whether a candidate will support policies that promote a strong housing market, robust economic opportunity, quality health care and educational empowerment.

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Democrats have nothing to show for their policy efforts but years of lacklustre results that even under President Barack Obama could not deliver meaningful solutions for our most vulnerable communities. And now with Democratic voters across the country putting forth hardcore socialists under the leadership of Sen. Bernie Sanders, old school Dems such as Wasserman Schultz are being tested. And so are Black and Jewish voters in their party.

Voters in two states face a reckoning

Florida and Michigan are ground zero where Blacks and Jews alike must decide whether Democrats represent their best political interests. Will they continue down the failed path of historically aligned loyalty to a party whose current agenda is the antithesis to their own ideology and self-interests? Or will they demand candidate accountability from everyone who requests their vote?

Political polls of the 2026 midterms are all over the map as voters are unsure of what to believe in the news and nervous about which road to take for the future of themselves and our country.

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Wasserman Schultz in the Florida 20th has done us all a favour to take ethnicity off the table for both Black and Jewish voters to sort this out.

Republicans need to capitalize on opportunity

If 2026 midterm candidates are evaluated on the merits of their ideas, instead of their ethnicity or traditional party affiliation, then Republicans have a great shot to keep control of Congress.

The GOP has just under 80 days to make the case that it is their party with ideas and policies to build a more affordable and peaceful America.

The progressive DSA wing of the Democratic Party has offered a rare opportunity for Republicans to step out with compelling solutions to the challenges so many Americans are facing today.

The Republican candidates who structure their platforms around voter concerns of health care, education, housing and economic stability, putting freedom and opportunity central in every speech, every policy proposal, and every interview — they will win.

— Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and author of “Necessary Noise, How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why this is Good News for America” (Hachette 2019).

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