Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Wins 20th Congressional District Seat
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is claiming victory, though her opponent has yet to concede the race.
"No one thought that a little girl like me that was growing up in the district who was raising a daughter by myself at a time would ever be here, so it means so much to be here. The daughter of immigrants who watched my parents' night and day as taxi cab drivers and a maid, but we made it," Cherfilus-McCormick said.
It was hard to hold back tears as Congresswoman-elect Cherfilus-McCormick thanked her supporters for helping her win Florida's 20th Congressional District seat.
"We know what was the difference. We had a message for the people and we fought for the people. We were on the ground. We were knocking on doors. We employed the people – most of money went towards stimulating the economy and believing in the people," she said.
Her opponent however has decided not to concede the race.
"Now they called the race, I did not win, so they say, but that does not mean that they lost either, it does not mean that we lost," said Republican Jason Mariner.
Several hours before the polls even closed, Mariner filed a lawsuit alleging there is a problem with the ballots in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.
"And we'll also have some stuff coming out that we've recently discovered," he said.
As for the results, they did not really come as a surprise. Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 5 to 1 in the district.
"Well, this wouldn't be my first time running against an opponent who is refusing to concede, so it's not our first time, and at the end of the day nothing can stop the motion," Cherfilus-McCormick said.
CBS4's Jacqueline Quynh contacted both supervisors of the elections offices in Broward and Palm Beach. They told her it takes 14 days to certify the votes, then Mariner has 10 days to decide if he wants to challenge the results.
Candidates don't have to ever concede as we saw with former President Donald Trump.