Luther Campbell, the rap music icon, free-speech advocate and civic activist, launched a primary challenge Sunday against U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is under federal indictment and now faces a widening field of political rivals.

Campbell said in an interview on the WPLG-Ch. 10 “This Week In South Florida” program that he’s been meeting with residents of the sprawling Broward-Palm Beach county 20th Congressional District. He said they have great unmet needs, and the incumbent isn’t doing enough to solve them.

His conclusion: “I’m going to run for Congress in CD 20.”

“What I heard, and what I already know, is it is a very underserved community. Our district is very underserved. The district, the representation of the district, is not there. People want to be able to engage with their congressperson,” Campbell said. “I looked at the race and I said if the congresswoman was doing her job, then I wouldn’t get in the race. That’s not my thing.”

Cherfilus-McCormick disputed her new challenger’s assertions about her representation. “Anyone has the right to run for office. That’s how democracy works. But if there are questions about who is doing the job, just ask the constituents. They know who shows up and who fights for them no matter what, in Washington and at home. My record speaks for itself,” she said in a written statement.

Though he’s a Democrat, Campbell said he has a history of working across the political aisle to get things done for projects he’s been involved in. And, he said, he’d be in a better position than any other potential member of Congress from the district to reach out to prominent Republicans — including President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida.

“In this race, who’s gonna be able to go talk to Marco Rubio? Who’s gonna be able to go talk to Donald Trump? Me. I’m the only one that can do that. Nobody else in this race he would respect. Nobody in this race. I mean, I got Marco Rubio on speed dial.”

Campbell, 65, is known as Luke Skyywalker, and later Uncle Luke, from his career as a rap artist. Campbell exploded in the public consciousness decades ago as the leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew.

He said Sunday said his celebrity and his national profile could help him raise money for the campaign. “I’m going to have a lot of money,” he said, adding that, “Every artist, every artist that I produce, and every artist by creating Southern hip-hop will be donating to this campaign.”

Campbell said his background, including controversies, wouldn’t be an impediment. “People will get into a race and (strategists) will say, ‘Write down the 10 things that you don’t want people to know about,” Campbell said. “Well, the 10 things that I don’t want people to know about, everybody already knows about. People know my history. But then at the same time, people know the things that I’ve done in the community.”

20th District

The 20th Congressional District is in a state of political upheaval.

—The Democratic congresswoman was indicted on federal charges in November related to the alleged theft of $5 million in government COVID-19 relief funds, which started with an overpayment from the state to her family-owned health care company. Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of keeping the money, which prosecutors say she and associates used much of to finance her 2021 primary campaign. She has denied wrongdoing and has entered a not guilty plea.

—Republicans who run Florida state government want to change the district’s boundaries before this year’s voting, meaning Campbell and other candidates don’t know exactly where they’ll be running.

—Cherfilus-McCormick was automatically returned to office in 2024 without facing voters because no candidate came forward to challenge her. With Campbell’s entry into the race, and the entrance of Dr. Rudolph Moise later on Sunday, there are now five Democrats and two Republicans running.

Issues

As he’s met with the people he hopes to represent, Campbell said he heard about “the heartbreak of these people” in communities who are affected by ultralocal issues and by the local impact of national policy decisions.

For example, he said, residents in the Glades communities in far western Palm Beach County have lost jobs because of the growth of automation in the sugarcane industry. What Campbell described as the “gutting” of the Department of Education by the Trump administration means a young person’s plans to go to nursing school are no longer possible.

“The most pressing issue in this district” is the Trump administration’s moves to end temporary protected status, a humanitarian program that allows people who’ve fled turmoil in their home countries and can’t return home to legally to live and work in the U.S. Many TPS holders from Haiti live in the 20th District.

Who is Luther Campbell?

He turned into a First Amendment activist after his music was challenged as obscene.

A federal judge in South Florida declared the lyrics of its platinum-selling album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be” were obscene, a ruling eventually overturned by an appeals court.

In the meantime, then-Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro had Campbell and other members of 2 Live Crew arrested in 1990 on obscenity charges after they performed at a club in Hollywood. The Broward County jury found them not guilty.

In recent years Campbell has been a civic and political activist, a columnist, and has promoted and coached sports programs for underserved youth. Much of his civic, philanthropic and political work has been concentrated in Miami-Dade County.

In 2011, he ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County, finishing in fourth place with 11% of the vote. Soon after he became a registered voter in Broward, and has been a Miramar resident for most of that time.

He considered challenging Cherfilus-McCormick in 2024, but opted not to make the race. “”It wasn’t the right time because I needed to do a lot of things to get myself prepared,” Campbell said.

Campbell’s announcement Sunday that he would be a 2026 candidate was expected.

He’s been talking about a potential race for weeks on his podcast and other appearances, and he extensively teased Sunday’s television appearance. More concretely, on Jan. 26 he announced his resignation from one of his passions: serving as head football coach at Miami Edison Senior High School.

He said he resigned because he knew he couldn’t fulfill his coaching responsibilities and run for Congress at the same time. (He also added that “I’m a Jamaican. Us Jamaicans, we normally have 12 different jobs.”)

Crowded field

In addition to the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick has been examined by congressional ethics investigators for much of her time in office. She was elected in a January 2022 special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of longtime U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.

A House investigative subcommittee, in a report released last month, said its work has revealed substantial evidence of conduct consistent with the allegations in the indictment, as well as more extensive misconduct” including violation of federal laws and regulations and ethical standards.

Two Democrats announced last year they were challenging Cherfilus-McCormick. Among them are Dale Holness, a former Broward County commissioner who lost a special primary election in 2021 to Cherfilus-McCormick by five votes. Also running is civic activist Elijah Manley.

Besides Campbell’s announcement on Sunday, Moise said he would seek the Democratic nomination.

Moise is a physician, a lawyer and retired Air Force colonel, who emigrated to the United States from Haiti at age 17.

“I am running for Congress because I believe deeply in the promise of this country,” Moise said in a written statement. “As a physician, I have seen firsthand the inequities in our healthcare system. As a Colonel, I understand leadership, discipline, and sacrifice. And as an immigrant, I understand what it means to fight for opportunity.”

He’s run for Congress before. In 2010, he finished second in a nine-candidate primary in a different congressional district, in South Broward and Miami-Dade County. Frederica Wilson won that primary and the general election, and is still serving in the House. In 2012, he ran against Wilson again and lost.

The 20th District, as it is currently crafted, is the most Democratic district in the state. Two Republicans, Rod Joseph and Sendra Dorce, have said they are running.

District boundaries

One big uncertainty is just what the 20th Congressional District will look like during the 2026 primary and general elections.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans who control the Florida Legislature have said they want to do an unusual mid-decade redistricting of the state’s congressional seats. Republicans across the country have made similar moves in response to demands from Trump to redraw district boundaries in ways that would elect more Republicans and fewer Democrats to the U.S. House in November.

DeSantis has repeatedly cited the 20th District as one that he wants to change. DeSantis opposes the current boundaries — which he signed into law in 2022 — because they’re drawn in a way that puts most of the African American and Caribbean American voters in Broward and Palm Beach counties in one district.

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