DeSantis, who has remained silent for weeks on when voters could expect to elect Hastings’s successor, announced that primaries in Florida’s 20th Congressional District will take place on Nov. 2, with a general election being held on Jan. 11.
Hastings’s district is considered safe territory for Democrats, and the party’s eventual nominee is likely to win the general election next year. But the schedule for the special election means that residents of Florida’s 20th, a majority Black district in South Florida, will have to wait at least another eight months for representation in Washington.
ADVERTISEMENT
The timeline set by DeSantis flies in the face of calls from local officials and candidates for the seat who have urged him to hold the election quickly.