Florida Primaries Tuesday Could Tip House Control

The redraw pushed Wasserman Schultz, 59, a former national Democratic Party chair, out of her Fort Lauderdale exurb and into a Broward County seat that has sent black Democrats to Congress since 1992. She is the only white candidate in the race.

"I'm not air dropping myself into this district," she told the AP. "I have represented diverse communities. I know how to tailor my service to them and represent a district more broadly." She is by far the best funded of five Democrats running, and Florida rules do not require a majority to win a primary.

Cherfilus-McCormick, 47, sees it differently. "For her to come in like this is just another Broward seat, it's a complete erasure of our history, our fight for Black access," she said.

Elijah Manley, 27, a progressive organizer and substitute teacher also in the race, said the redistricting ploy is not Wasserman Schultz's fault but that she "had other options" — including running in her new home district, which was drawn to include the more conservative Gulf coast.

"Instead, she stabbed us in the back, trying to take away Black representation," Manley said, pointing to Congressional Black Caucus warnings that it could lose more than a quarter of its 60-plus members this fall.