# Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (/ˈʃɜːrfɪləs/ SHUR-fill-əss; born January 25, 1979) 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.
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 laws.

## Early life and career

Cherfilus-McCormick was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, to parents from Haiti and raised in the borough of Queens. She moved to Florida at 13 to attend high school. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from Howard University and a Juris Doctor from the St. Thomas University School of Law.
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.

## U.S. House of Representatives
### Tenure

Cherfilus-McCormick is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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. Cherfilus-McCormick has denied the allegations.

### Elections
#### 2018

Cherfilus-McCormick ran for Florida's 20th congressional district in the August 28 Democratic primary against incumbent Alcee Hastings in 2018. She lost, 73.6%–26.4%.

#### 2020

Cherfilus-McCormick challenged Hastings again in 2020. She noted various ethics concerns facing Hastings and his health as reasons for running. She lost the August 18 primary, 69.3%–30.7%.

#### 2022 special

After Hastings died on April 6, 2021, Cherfilus-McCormick ran again in the 20th district in the 2022 special election. During the campaign, she loaned $3.7 million to her campaign organization. She campaigned on progressive policies such as a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and a $1,000-a-month universal basic income. Her campaign was supported by Brand New Congress, a progressive organization that also backed candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib.
After a recount, Cherfilus-McCormick was declared the winner of the Democratic primary by five votes over Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness in an upset. She easily defeated Republican Jason Mariner in the January 11, 2022, general election. She is the only Haitian-American Democrat ever elected to Congress and only the second overall, after Republican Mia Love of Utah.

#### 2022 regular election

Following her narrow margin of victory in the special election, Cherfilus-McCormick was again challenged by Holness for the regular election. Cherfilus-McCormick handily defeated Holness in the August Democratic primary, 66%-27% with another 6% going to Anika Omphroy. 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.

### Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:
* Committee on Foreign Affairs
** Subcommittee on Africa
** Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability
* Committee on Veterans' Affairs
** Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
** Subcommittee on Technology Modernization (Ranking Member)

### Caucus memberships

* Congressional Black Caucus
* Congressional Progressive Caucus
* Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus

## Political positions

Cherfilus-McCormick voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis. Cherfilus-McCormick voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

## Personal life

Cherfilus-McCormick married lawyer Corlie McCormick in 2017 and lives in Miramar, Florida. They have two children together.
Cherfilus-McCormick is Protestant.

## Legal issues

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. 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 laws. As of January 2025, the Ethics Committee was still investigating the matter.

## Electoral history
### 2018

2018 Florida's 20th congressional district Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Alcee Hastings (incumbent) | 52,628 | 73.8 |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | 18,697 | 26.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 71,325 | 100 |

### 2020

2020 Florida's 20th congressional district Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Alcee Hastings (incumbent) | 62,759 | 69.3 |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | 27,831 | 30.7 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 90,590 | 100 |

### 2022

2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | 11,662 | 23.8 |
| | Democratic | Dale Holness | 11,657 | 23.8 |
| | Democratic | Barbara Sharief | 8,680 | 17.7 |
| | Democratic | Perry E. Thurston Jr. | 7,282 | 14.8 |
| | Democratic | Bobby DuBose | 3,458 | 7.1 |
| | Democratic | Omari Hardy | 2,902 | 5.9 |
| | Democratic | Priscilla Taylor | 1,677 | 3.4 |
| | Democratic | Elvin Dowling | 646 | 1.3 |
| | Democratic | Emmanuel Morel | 454 | 0.9 |
| | Democratic | Phil Jackson | 342 | 0.7 |
| | Democratic | Imran Siddiqui | 316 | 0.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 49,074 | 100 |
2022 Florida's 20th congressional district special election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | 44,707 | 79.0 |
| | Republican | Jason Mariner | 10,966 | 19.4 |
| | Libertarian | Mike ter Maat | 395 | 0.7 |
| | Independent | Jim Flynn | 265 | 0.5 |
| | Independent | Lenny Serratore | 262 | 0.5 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 56,595 | 100 |
2022 Florida's 20th congressional district Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (incumbent) | 47,601 | 65.6 |
| | Democratic | Dale Holness | 20,783 | 28.6 |
| | Democratic | Anika Omphroy | 4,197 | 5.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 72,581 | 100 |
2022 Florida's 20th congressional district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (incumbent) | 136,215 | 72.3 |
| | Republican | Drew Montez Clark | 52,151 | 27.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 188,366 | 100 |

### 2024

2024 Florida's 20th congressional district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (incumbent) | unopposed | 100 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | N/A | 100 |