Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick speaks on issues affecting senior citizens Recorded March 27, 2022
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (/ˈʃɜːrfɪləs/SHUR-fill-əss; born January 25, 1979)[1] is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 20th congressional district. Her district covers most of the Black-majority areas in and around Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. A member of the Democratic Party, she won a special election in 2022 to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Alcee Hastings.[2] Florida has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Cherfilus-McCormick's South Florida-based Trinity Health Care Services business for knowingly accepting overpayments of invoices for work that was not actually performed during the COVID-19 pandemic, alleging she used the overpayments to fund her congressional campaign, and she has been referred to the U.S. House Committee on Ethics after finding "substantial reason" to believe that she had violated campaign finance rules.
After graduating from college, Cherfilus-McCormick served as a project manager for the New York City Transit Authority. From 1999 to 2007, she worked as the vice president for operations of Trinity Health Care Services, a Florida-based family home health care company co-founded by her stepfather, Gabriel Smith. She later served as CEO.[5]
On December 27, 2023, the House Ethics Committee announced that it was investigating Cherfilus-McCormick over complaints that she may have violated campaign finance laws, failed to submit required disclosures and carried out improper hiring practices.[6][7][8][9] Cherfilus-McCormick has denied the allegations.
Cherfilus-McCormick challenged Hastings again in 2020. She noted various ethics concerns facing Hastings and his health as reasons for running.[4] She lost the August 18 primary, 69.3%–30.7%.[12]
Following her narrow margin of victory in the special election, Cherfilus-McCormick was again challenged by Holness for the regular election.[22] Cherfilus-McCormick handily defeated Holness in the August Democratic primary, 66%-27% with another 6% going to Anika Omphroy.[23] Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Republican nominee Drew Montez-Clark with 72% of the vote during the November election, and she started her first full term in Congress on January 3, 2023.
In January 2025, the state of Florida filed a $5 million lawsuit against Cherfilus-McCormick's South Florida-based Trinity Health Care Services business for knowingly accepting overpayments of invoices for work that was not actually performed during the COVID-19 pandemic.[34] It is alleged that she used this money to fund her congressional campaign. Between 2020 and 2021, Cherfilus-McCormick gained over $6 million dollars in wealth, millions of which she loaned to her campaign. She had previously only spent tens of thousands on her campaign. Cherfilus-McCormick had previously been referred to the United States House Committee on Ethics in 2023 after finding "substantial reason" to believe that she had violated campaign finance rules. As of January 2025, the Ethics Committee was still investigating the matter.[35]
Electoral history
2018
2018 Florida's 20th congressional district Democratic primary results[36]
