FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The sudden, but not surprising, resignation of U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick leaves more than 300,000 voters in Broward and Palm Beach counties without a voice in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Just how long the seat will remain vacant — and even whether it makes any real-world difference — is uncertain.

The biggest factor in what happens in the 20th Congressional District, which is the most heavily Democratic in the state, is Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican governor has often delayed setting special elections to fill vacancies in heavily Democratic districts, and his intentions in this case aren’t clear.

“Stay tuned!” deputy press secretary Gatlin Nennstiel said via email Wednesday in response to questions about the governor’s intentions.

Cherfilus-McCormick announced her resignation on Tuesday, minutes before the full House Ethics Committee was set to consider a sanctions recommendation to the full House after its adjudicatory subcommittee found last month that she had committed 25 ethics violations, including breaking campaign finance laws.

Many of the findings stem from Cherfilus-McCormick’s receipt of millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after Florida overpaid the firm $5 million in federal COVID relief funds, with the subcommittee determining much of that money helped fund her first two successful political campaigns, in 2021 and 2022.

The former congresswoman has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and has entered a not guilty plea to federal criminal charges, some of which overlap with the House ethics case.

Calls for a special election

Some Democrats want DeSantis to set a special election, even though a replacement representative might serve only a couple of months in office. All elections require long lead times, including mandated periods for people to receive and return ballots.

All House seats are up for election in the November midterm elections for terms that begin in January.

Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott said Wednesday that special primary and general elections could be held quickly, and a replacement could be on the job in Washington in just a few months.

Scott said he was preparing a letter to state officials outlining a timetable for a special primary election, and then a special general election to be held on Aug. 18, the date Florida is scheduled to hold primary elections for state and federal offices, including Congress. Under his timetable, he said a member of Congress could take office shortly after that voting.

Scott said it is logistically possible and the right thing to do.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a congressional district to go without representation. This district has already done without adequate representation for a bit now,” Scott said.

Cherfilus-McCormick has been under investigation for years. She maintained some congressional activities — including an email blast to constituents titled “Fighting for YOU! Winning for YOU!”, voting on a bill that overwhelmingly passed the House and introducing a bill on immigration enforcement, all the day before she resigned — but hadn’t appeared at some major public events in the district after the adjudicatory subcommittee’s findings.

Scott said the vacancy wasn’t an unexpected shock, unlike a sudden vacancy caused by a death of someone in office. “In this case, this has been anticipated.”

Well before her resignation, four Democratic and three Republican candidates were already running.

Sean Foreman, a political scientist at Barry University, said Scott’s timetable is “super aggressive.”

Wendy Sartory Link, the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections, said her office is ready to conduct a special election if the governor orders one.

In the last 24-and-a-half months, Palm Beach County has had 11 elections and special elections; normally in a two-year period it’s four. “We’re ready to go. We’ve got everything in place,” she said. “We’re ready, willing and able.”

But, Link said, there might not be enough time for an Aug. 18 special election.

There needs to be a period for candidates to qualify to get on the ballot, and the ballot then has to be designed, proofread and printed. Under federal law, ballots must be mailed to overseas and military voters 45 days before primary day. Under the same federal law, final results wouldn’t be determined until 10 days after the primary.

The same steps, including the 45 days, would then have to be repeated for a special general election.

Another possibility is scheduling a special primary for the regular Aug. 18 primary and a special general election when regular general elections are taking place, on Nov. 3. That would have a replacement in office for less than two months, until a new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.

The current Congress has been panned for passing little legislation. But Scott said there are important reasons to have a representative in place.

“There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. … It’s not just about casting votes in Washington. It’s also about what a congressman does for the district locally.”

Elijah Manley, the first of several Democratic candidates who announced primary campaigns before Cherfilus-McCormick resigned, said in a statement that “the people of FL-20 cannot be left without a voice in Washington. I am calling on Governor Ron DeSantis to move quickly and set a special election so the families of this district have representation during this critical period.”

Another Democratic candidate, Luther Campbell, said the district should have representation as soon as possible, but wasn’t as detailed as Manley’s demand. “I remain committed to working with local, state, and federal partners to make sure our community moves forward without interruption,” Campbell said in a statement.

Democratic candidate Rudolph Moise said via email that “a fair and timely election (is) essential to restoring full representation for this community. Our community cannot afford delays or uncertainty when it comes to representation, and going without a voice in Congress is simply not an option.”

He also said he does not “expect fairness or empathy” from DeSantis, “who has previously allowed constituents in Democratic districts to go without representation.”

Another Democratic candidate, Dale Holness, who lost a 2021 special primary election to Cherfilus-McCormick by five votes, didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about his views about what should happen with the vacancy.

Almost always, a special election should be held as soon as possible so people aren’t left unrepresented, said Foreman.

“I think the residents deserve a special election as soon as possible. It’s always unfortunate when there’s a vacant seat and those citizens don’t have somebody voting for them … in Congress. The goal should be to rectify that as soon as possible,” he said.

Foreman said this situation might be an exception, where the political and logistical factors might tip the scales to not having a special election “just to put a person in there for a couple of months when we’re going to have a regular election in November.”

Political considerations

Foreman doesn’t expect a special election this time, largely for political reasons.

“There should be, but nobody should expect that there will be a special election in this case because of the current political landscape.”

With 217 Republicans and 212 Democrats, the House is so closely divided that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has had difficulty passing his party’s agenda when only a few of his party’s members defect. A vacant Cherfilus-McCormick seat gives Johnson and the Republicans slightly more breathing room.

“The governor has delayed special elections before. This is a solid Democratic seat that will certainly be won by a Democratic candidate. And the party margin in the House right now is so thin that every vote truly matters, and if Republicans can keep a Democratic seat empty they will for as long as they can.”

DeSantis, a former Republican member of Congress who often expresses disdain for the way it operates, is keenly aware of the numbers. He is pushing for an unusual mid-decade redistricting as part of President Donald Trump’s call for states to redraw boundaries in an attempt to get more Republicans and fewer Democrats elected.

DeSantis has cited the Cherfilus-McCormick district as one he’d like to see redrawn. He has ordered the Legislature to convene in a special session next week to redraw congressional district boundaries.

The prospect of new congressional districts for the regular Aug. 18 primary and regular Nov. 3 general election pose a complication. A special election, possibly on the same day, would use the boundaries of the current districts, which could be radically different from new districts.

“We have a special session on redistricting starting next week, which is likely to change the contours of District 20. All districts will change but it’s one that may change even more because it’s a heavily Democratic district right now,” Foreman said.

Another complicating political factor involving the balance of power is the fate of U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican.

Mills has been accused of sexual and financial misconduct, and the Ethics Committee has formed an investigative subcommittee to look into him. He has denied wrongdoing.

In her statement following Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation, state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried used Mills’ name more often than Cherfilus-McCormick’s. “Now it’s Cory Mills’ turn to resign.” Though Democrats would like to see Mills gone, they don’t have a way to force the issue.

Filling vacancies

The Constitution requires a special election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House, unlike the U.S. Senate, where a governor can fill a vacancy until the next election.

Florida law gives the governor lots of flexibility in setting dates for special elections.

It can be done expeditiously. Or it can be delayed.

Democratic lawmakers unsuccessfully sought to pass legislation this year that would set a timeline for governors to call special elections to fill vacancies.

In November 2024, U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz, both Florida Republicans, announced they were resigning to take senior jobs with the Trump administration. DeSantis acted within days to set special elections. (Gaetz’s nomination ultimately was withdrawn, but he didn’t attempt to undo his resignation.)

DeSantis set special primary elections for Jan. 28, 2025, and special general elections for April 1, 2025. The Waltz district was unrepresented for 10 weeks, and the Gaetz seat for 20 weeks.

The governor didn’t demonstrate the same urgency to fill the vacancy after the death of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Democrat who represented Broward and Palm Beach counties. (Eventually Cherfilus-McCormick was elected to replace Hastings.)

Hastings died on April 6, 2021. DeSantis set the special election for Jan. 11, 2022, keeping the Democratic district unrepresented for more than 40 weeks.

DeSantis didn’t set the special election dates until five days after a candidate filed a federal lawsuit seeking a court order to compel DeSantis to set the dates. That’s been a pattern for the governor. After a lawsuit is filed asking a court to intervene, he sets the special election dates, avoiding the possibility of having a judge telling him what to do.

Manley pointed to that history in a social media post on Wednesday. As a candidate for the state House of Representatives, Manley was involved in a case seeking to compel the governor to set special election dates. “I don’t want to have to sue Ron DeSantis, but I will if I have to. And I won last time,” Manley wrote.

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