PoolSafety / Wikimedia Commons
Audio By Carbonatix
Some members of the Broward Black Caucus are accusing U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of lying about having endorsements from local Black, LGBTQ, and veteran groups. And while the Broward Black Caucus president says Wasserman Schultz came to the group Saturday to apologize in person, other caucus members think it was a deliberate effort to trick voters at the polls in November.
Currently the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 25th District (a white-majority district covering southern Broward County), Wasserman Schultz is running to replace embattled U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned in April from District 20 (a predominantly Black district covering northern Broward). Wasserman Schultz had already caused controversy in the race when she entered the running for a district seat historically held by a Black person, Broward Black Caucus member and fellow District 20 candidate Elijah Manley told New Times Tuesday.
Manley accused Wasserman Schultz of lying about having additional endorsements from SAVE LGBTQ and the Sierra Club Florida (an environmental organization). Neither organization responded to New Times’ request for comment. She removed all her endorsements from her campaign website over the weekend, Manley says.
Wasserman Schultz didn’t respond to calls or emails requesting comment.
“It’s not just bad judgment but highly disrespectful of the members of the Black Caucus and people here,” Manley says, referring to Wasserman Schultz’s endorsement page. “I think it was her calculation to trick the voters with inaccurate information. I don’t think it was an honest mistake. It’s a very cynical attempt to trick the voters.”
Manley explained he was the first to notice the erroneous endorsement claim and notified Broward Black Caucus President Corey Shearer. Manley tweeted a screenshot of a statement from the caucus, which reads, “Contrary to information currently appearing on Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s campaign website, the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus has not endorsed Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for any office.
“The BCDBC’s endorsement process for the 2026 election cycle is only now beginning. No endorsement has been made in this race, and any public statement suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and does not reflect the official position of our organization.
“As an organization committed to fair representation and civic engagement, the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus continues to advocate for the voices of the residents and voters of Congressional District 20. We have consistently expressed concerns regarding efforts that we believe diminish the ability of the communities within CD 20 to determine their own congressional representation. This false advertisement points to dishonest intentions and the voters of CD 20 deserve better.
“We assert that this type of behavior is unbecoming of someone who is seeking the trust of the people.”
The entire statement can be found below.
While Wasserman Schultz hasn’t responded to New Times’ request for comment, she also hasn’t made any apparent statement on the issue via her public social media accounts.
And while Manley says that some in the group found the claim insulting and the product of a bad-faith attempt to win over voters, Shearer told New Times he thinks the claim wasn’t made with ill intentions. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t insulting, he says. Shearer spoke to Wasserman Shultz about the issue on Saturday, after the group sent out its statement calling her out for the apparent lie.
“She had been rolling over endorsements from us and others,” Shearer says, adding that the group had endorsed her for other campaigns in different districts years ago. “Seeing the claim that we endorsed her right away sent up red flags because we haven’t held the vote yet.
“That got us pretty upset. You feel like someone is taking something from you without the courtesy of asking. When something like this happens, you feel disappointed and like someone is taking advantage of you.”
During multiple in-person conversations on Saturday, Wasserman Schultz apologized for the mistake and said this wasn’t the way she operates, Shearer says.
