2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election


The 2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election was a special election to the United States House of Representatives. The seat had been vacant since incumbent Democratic representative Alcee Hastings died on April 6, 2021, of pancreatic cancer.
The special election was scheduled by Governor Ron DeSantis to be held on January 11, 2022. The primary elections were held on November 2, 2021. This left the seat vacant for 9 months, substantially longer than the delay for previous special elections.

Democratic primary

Campaign

Following Hastings' death, 11 Democratic candidates made the primary ballot to replace him.

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Disqualified

Declined

Debates

A two-part debate was held on September 15, 2021.

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Sheila
Cherfilus-McCormick		Bobby
DuBose		Omari
Hardy		Dale
Holness		Barbara
Sharief		Priscilla
Taylor		Perry
Thurston		OtherUndecided
Expedition Strategies October 20–24, 2021500 ± 4.4%15%6%5%14%13%2%10%2%32%
Data for Progress July 6–7, 2021314 ± 5.0%6%5%10%17%14%6%8%5%29%
Public Policy Polling April 2021416 ± 4.8%–7%–13%6%–11%12%50%
Public Policy Polling April 2021416 ± 4.8%–––11%7%–14%14%53%
Public Policy Polling April 2021416 ± 4.8%–––15%11%–15%–59%

Results

Per Florida law, because the margin separating Cherfilus-McCormick and Holness was less than 0.5%, a recount was held. Ballots received by November 12 from overseas were accepted. The two candidates were two votes apart as some ballots that had been cast were still in dispute. On November 12, over a week after the primary, the Broward County canvassing board declared Cherfilus-McCormick the winner after a recount failed to change the vote totals. However, Holness did not immediately concede, pointing out that the board had rejected twelve overseas military ballots. He said he would confer with a lawyer to decide whether or not to challenge the results. The Palm Beach County canvassing board voted to certify the election results on the same day. State officials certified the results on November 16.
Cherfilus-McCormick won in Palm Beach County, receiving 30% of the vote. Meanwhile, Holness won in Broward County, where he serves as county commissioner, with 29% of the vote.

Aftermath

Holness filed a lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court on November 29 asking it to overturn the election results, alleging Cherfilus-McCormick to be "ineligible to hold office." The lawsuit asserts that Cherfilus-McCormick did not file proper financial paperwork and that her support for a universal basic income of $1,000 per month amounted to bribing voters. Holness claimed that voters had asked workers at polling places "where they collect the $1,000 from, so they expected to get $1,000." Election lawyer and former state representative Juan-Carlos Planas described the lawsuit as a "Hail Mary pass" and doubted it would be successful. Don James, an attorney for Holness, acknowledged that the challenge likely would not be resolved in time for the election. Mail-in ballots for the special election with Cherfilus-McCormick listed as the Democratic nominee were sent out beginning on December 3.
On December 6, Cherfilus-McCormick's attorneys filed a lengthy brief in response to the lawsuit that disputed its claims, calling it "a desperate attempt to overturn the will of the voters." In response to the allegation of bribery, the brief points out that promising monetary benefits to voters is common, comparing Cherfilus-McCormick's support for a universal basic income to "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage," a slogan used by former president Herbert Hoover in his 1928 presidential campaign. The brief also claims that Holness's complaint was filed too late and is thus invalid, and asks the judge to dismiss it and order Holness to pay Cherfilus-McCormick's legal fees. Ultimately, Holness's challenge fell flat, as no judge took up the case.

Republican primary

Campaign

Two Republicans made the primary ballot, businessman Jason Mariner and Greg Musselwhite, who had been the Republican nominee for the seat in 2020. The two men cut different appearances on the campaign trail, with Mariner presenting himself in a clean-cut fashion while Musselwhite campaigned in a more folksy manner. A substantial part of Mariner's campaign was based around his turning his life around after previously being imprisoned twice on various felony charges. Musselwhite attacked Mariner for his prior felony convictions, claiming in a later-deleted Facebook post that voters had a choice between "the correctional officer or the inmate".
Mariner ran as an "America First conservative", promoting false claims that the results of the 2020 presidential election were illegitimate, as well as making statements in support of the rioters at the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack and the Confederate Flag, which he defended as a "battle flag that was later co-opted by racist groups".

Candidates

Nominee

  • Jason Mariner, businessman

Eliminated in primary

  • Gregory "Greg" Musselwhite, welding inspector and nominee for this district in 2020

Disqualified

Independent and third-party candidates

Libertarian Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

Disqualified

General election

Endorsements

Endorsements in bold were made after the primary elections.

Results

As expected by election prognosticators, Cherfilus-McCormick won the election by a landslide, winning 79% of the popular vote. In spite of this, Mariner refused to concede, threatening to file a lawsuit to dispute the results.