Herald recommends: Lawmaker works across aisle to benefit Miami, Florida and beyond | Editorial
The Editorial Board takes the threats to this nation’s fragile democracy seriously. It’s a concern that has informed our choices for the U.S. House of Representatives. Here is the Board’s recommendation in Florida’s Congressional District 24.
There’s really no contest in the race for U.S. House District 24. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson remains the far better choice.
As we said in August when we recommended her, rather than a Democratic primary challenger: “Wilson has a long record of making things happen for the district — and beyond — even though, she says, she has been in the minority party in the House for much of her tenure there.”
Jesus Navarro is Wilson’s Republican challenger. In advance of GOP primary in August, he told the Editorial Board upfront: “I have no experience in public service.”
Navarro works for a firm that provides mobility options for disabled residents. He also has a degree in political science from Nova Southeastern University. What he didn’t have was a firm grip on District 24’s assets and challenges — nor any significant qualifications to earn him a seat in Congress.
The district has been redrawn to exclude Hollywood, but includes Miami, Miami Gardens, North Miami Beach, North Miami, Opa-locka, Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Bay Harbor Islands, Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura, and parts Hialeah and Miami Lakes. In Broward County, it covers sections of West Park and Pembroke Pines.
Wilson has been effective on local, state, national and international levels. She’s been a champion of gun control, knowing how severely parts of her district have been plagued by violence. She is accessible to the people of her district and a pro at constituent service.
Looking statewide, in 2014, Wilson convened port directors, the Army Corps of Engineers and other stakeholders to guarantee that Florida had the funding to prepare to accommodate the super-sized ships scheduled to sail through the Panama Canal. Without it, Florida’s economy would have taken a serious hit, to say nothing of the outlook for jobs. She also created the bipartisan Congressional Florida Ports Caucus, which advocates for these major economic engines in the state.
She told the Editorial Board that she counts among her most significant accomplishments establishing the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, based in the U.S. Department of Justice. “And this was passed under [President] Trump,” she told the Board.
That alone speaks volumes of Wilson’s ability not only to think big, but to also work across the aisle to get things done. Wilson said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the commission “landmark” legislation. And Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, pushed it through the U.S. Senate.
Wilson came to Haitians’ aid after the 2010 earthquake and kept the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists in front of her colleagues and the media with her #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Elected to Congress in 2011, Wilson remains an effective and focused lawmaker. The Miami Herald Editorial Board recommends FREDERICA WILSON for U.S. House District 24.
