South Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson won’t run for re-election this year

South Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, who has represented parts of North Miami-Dade and south Broward counties since 2010, announced Friday that she will not run for re-election this year.

The 83-year-old member of Congress had denied a report published last week that she was about to step down from her seat representing Florida’s 24th Congressional District.

She told the Miami Herald Friday, however, that she had made her decision to resign a while ago but needed to be “politically strategic” about her announcement after the Florida Legislature approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new congressional map designed to cull several Democratic seats.

“I figured if I announced that I was retiring, what would the Legislature and the governor do? What would they say? Would District 24 be an easy target because Frederica is no longer there? I’m a strong candidate,” she said. “With me not here, would that weaken the survival of District 24?”

The recently enacted congressional map actually makes CD 24 more Democratic leaning.

Before her election to Congress in 2010, Wilson served in the Florida House (1998-2002) and Florida Senate (2002-2010). In 1992, she’d been elected to the Miami-Dade School Board. From 1980 to 1992, she served as principal of Skyway Elementary in Miami Gardens.

One of her signature achievements was creating a challenge to the men of Miami-Dade County to intervene in the lives of “at-risk” youth. That resulted in the Miami-Dade County School Board in 1993 creating the 500 African American Male Role Models of Excellence Project, now recognized as the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.

In 2020, she worked with then-Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to create an independent government commission to study the social status of Black men and boys that President Donald Trump signed into law.

Democratic State Sen. Shevrin Jones announced earlier this week that he was resigning from his seat in the Legislature, and he is expected to now run for the congressional seat to be vacated by Wilson.

“Before she was my Congresswoman, she was my principal,” Jones said in a statement on Friday.

“From the School Board, to the Florida Senate, to the United State Congress, she has spent decades opening doors, creating opportunities, and fighting for the people she serves. She has worn many hats throughout her remarkable career, literally and figuratively, but the hat she wore best was that of a public servant.”

One of Wilson’s GOP congressional colleagues from South Florida, U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, praised her in a post on X.

“@RepWilson is a trailblazing educator, stateswoman, and incredibly effective legislator who has earned the respect of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” he said. “We have worked together on many bipartisan initiatives for our South Florida community & we will miss her tenacious spirit in Congress!”

Another potential candidate in the Democratic primary to succeed her is Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert. Physician Rudy Moise has already filed to run for the seat.

Wilson is the latest member of the Florida Congressional delegation to bow out. Republicans Neal Dunn, Vern Buchanan, and Daniel Webster have previously announced their retirements from Congress, while Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned last month shortly before she was to appear before the House Ethics Committee amid allegations of stealing federal disaster money.

Wilson appeared Friday in Miami Gardens, where a street adjacent to Dr. Frederica S. Wilson/Skyway Elementary School was renamed in her honor.