Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz says LGBTQ+ rights are ‘a core part’ of her values and agenda

Florida’s gay capital could soon be represented by a longtime ally. In a newly redrawn congressional map, all of Wilton Manors ended up in a district now served by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida’s longest-serving Democratic federal official. It’s a community that has drifted in and out of her jurisdiction over years of service, but one she looks forward to representing again.“I kept my ties to the community, because it’s the center of gravity on LGBTQ+ rights, and that’s a core part of my values and my agenda,” shesaid in an exclusive interview ahead of the midterms.But much of the attention on Wasserman Schultz this year centered not on her long history of championing gay rights but on the racial aspects of her run. When the redistricting wars hit Florida last year, the incumbent faced a difficult choice. She could run in the district where she lived under the new map, an area covering the width of Florida, and where 55 percent of voters in 2024 voted for Donald Trump, or she could run in the remnants of a historically Black-majority district dismantled by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s partisan cartography.“I’m not paranoid. It’s just that they’re trying to kill me,” she recounts. “I think it was very obvious to most people that they took my district and chopped it up into the smallest pieces to make it the most challenging for me to have a place to run.” Debbie Wasserman Schultzwassermanschultz.house.govWasserman Schultz chose to run in the safe Democratic seat, entering a primary that included four Black candidates, including one man hoping to be the first gay Congressman from Florida. She argued the district would be best served by a senior member of Congress who is part of the leadership team for Hakeem Jeffries, a New York congressman expected to become America’s first Black Speaker of the House if Democrats win the midterms. For all the controversy, though, Wasserman Schultz landed the support of numerous Black leaders in