Poll: Debbie Wasserman Schultz leads CD 20 contest, remains popular with Black, Caribbean voters
The campaign-backed poll found criticism over race largely failed to dent Wasserman Schultz’s support.
New polling from U.S. Rep.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s campaign shows that despite outcry over her candidacy in the plurality Black Florida’s 20th Congressional District, she’s the clear front-runner, and her race isn’t a nonstarter for most voters.
EMC Research, commissioned by Wasserman Schultz’s camp, surveyed 400 likely August 2026 Democratic Primary voters from the newly drawn CD 20 in English and Spanish by phone, email and text message.
The poll, which ran May 5-10, found Wasserman Schultz is well-known and popular, with 52% of likely voters picking her among a list of eight announced and potential August Primary candidates.
No other candidates came close to that level of support, pollsters noted.
Wasserman Schultz’s name recognition and favorability are also extremely high, with 93% of respondents saying they know of her and 80% saying they view her favorably.
African American voters and voters of Caribbean descent view her most favorably, with 84% and 95% of each group, respectively, rating her positively. Her lowest favorability (net +34), was with Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, multiracial voters and people identifying with another ethnic background.
Asked about an argument that several
CD 20 candidates,
Democrats and
Black leaders have made, that Wasserman Schultz step aside so a Black person can continue to represent the district, 41% of respondents say it will have no effect on their choice. Another 41% say such a statement makes them more inclined to support her.
Of the 16% who say the issue makes them less likely to back her, most — 83% — cite a preexisting support for another candidate.
EMC Research’s findings, which carry a 4.9-percentage-point margin of error, starkly conflict with
other polling CD 20 candidate
Elijah Manley’s campaign released earlier this month showing 81% of Primary voters feel it is “extremely” or “very” important that the district is represented by a Black member in Congress.
Both polls were conducted after Gov.
Ron DeSantis approved a new congressional map that
dismantled a district previously believed to be protected by the Voting Rights Act.
The recent
Louisiana v. Callais ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court significantly raised the threshold on drawing maps with race as a motivating factor. A mapmaker in DeSantis’ Office said lines drawn on a new map, created in anticipation of such a ruling, were done in a “race-neutral” way.
Still, a plurality of the voting-age population in CD 20 is Black, about 42.1% of all voters there, according to
Dave’s Redistricting. By comparison, about 30.1% of voting age residents are White and 23.3% are Hispanic.
DeSantis’ map also completely dismantled a prior iteration of Florida’s 25th Congressional District, which Wasserman Schultz — a former state lawmaker and Chair of the Democratic National Committee who first won federal office in 2004 — has represented since 2023.
Wasserman Schultz
entered the CD 20 fray last week, where Democrats including Manley,
Luther Campbell,
Dale Holness and
Maisha Williams are currently running to replace former Democratic U.S. Rep.
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who
resigned in April while facing federal charges of stealing government funds, money laundering and campaign finance violations.
Cherfilus-McCormick is also running to reclaim her seat.
Republican
Brent Anderson, independent
Maxime Kedner and write-in candidate
Kevin McClellan have also filed for the contest.
CD 20 covers an inland portion of Broward spanning all or part of Coconut Creek, Deerfield Beach, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Plantation, Sunrise, Tamarac and Wilton Manors.
The Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
