MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from Florida known for championing education causes and expanding opportunities for Black communities, announced Friday she will not seek reelection.
During a street-naming ceremony in her honor next to the elementary school where she once served as principal, the 83-year-old said, “This has been a journey. But it’s time. It’s time.”
“I know all of you are saying, ‘What is the congresswoman going to do?’ Well, the congresswoman is going to not seek another term,” she said to a collective “aw” from the crowd gathered.
Wilson’s announcement makes her the latest in a line of aging members of Congress to choose not to run again ahead of November’s midterm elections. It also comes amid growing challenges to Black political power in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act. As Republicans rush to redraw congressional maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the Congressional Black Caucus — of which Wilson is a member — is poised to lose up to one-third of its members.
Florida earlier this month approved a new map heavily favoring Republicans, though Wilson’s Miami-based district remains a blue stronghold. State Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from Miami Gardens, announced Wednesday he wouldn’t be running for reelection for the Legislature in November. He is seen as one of the lead contenders for Wilson’s seat and would be the first openly gay member of Congress from Florida if elected.
Wilson is one of the most recognizable members of the House, known for a distinctive style that includes brightly colored clothing and matching cowboy hats. She had previously denied rumors that she was retiring, calling them “crazy.”
“I’m almost distraught,” she told Axios last week. “It’s not true. I am still planning on running.”
Wilson then conducted an exclusive interview with the Miami Herald that published Friday, in which she explained she’d tried to be “politically strategic” about her announcement given GOP redistricting. She added that she felt the weight of the decision given that her predecessor was Carrie Meek, a Black leader, saying, “I didn’t want to gamble on this seat being taken away from us.”
“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?”
She also told the Herald that she wasn’t ready to endorse a successor yet but indicated she would be vetting candidates to make a decision.
The street-naming ceremony honoring Wilson on Friday featured numerous Miami-Dade County officials from both parties, with a packed audience gathered under a tent next to an elementary school named after the lawmaker. She wore a light pink suit with rhinestone embellishments and a cowboy hat to the event and said when she took the stage that the ceremony represented a “bookend” to her political career.
She also joked that the elementary school named after her would be easy to find now because it was on a street also named after her.
Speakers repeatedly raised her mentoring program for boys of color, which began when she was a school board member and is known as the “5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.” It has helped thousands of men obtain higher education degrees. Wilson said Friday she would be traveling across the U.S. to spread the program in other parts of the country.
“A street just isn’t enough,” said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who is also among the names talked about for the seat, while praising her work on youth mentorship in the state. “We’re here because you’re not just an elected official — there are a lot of elected officials — not just a leader; you’re a living legend.”
Miami-Dade County Commission Vice Chair Kionne McGhee also took the stage and talked about how Wilson’s mentorship program changed his life. “It was this woman who looked at young boys who were told that they would never amount to anything and told them that they too can walk the halls of Congress — and not only walk the halls of Congress but effectuate policies that would dictate the future of their children,” he said.
Wilson, whose district encompasses parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, has served since first winning election in 2010. She previously worked as a teacher, principal, school board member and in the Legislature, where she overlapped with now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio — whom she called a “dear, dear friend” — and pushed to require Florida public schools to teach African American history. She spoke extensively about her experience during Friday’s event.
She has served as the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee and as a member of the House Education and Workforce Committee.
Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in 2020, Wilson introduced legislation to create the U.S. Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys and later served as the agency’s chair.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, Wilson criticized the president as insensitive after a call he made to the widow of a South Florida soldier killed in Niger.
