JTA — Two Jewish women who have long represented Southeast Floridians in Congress will take on progressive opponents in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries, where last-minute redistricting efforts have redrawn the electoral battle lines.

This statewide shuffle stemmed from US President Donald Trump’s push for GOP governors to reshape voting district boundaries, with the goal of strengthening the Republican party’s majority on Capitol Hill. After Gov. Ron DeSantis urged state legislators to rewrite Florida’s district map, they merged multiple Democratic districts and reduced the number of seats expected to stay blue.

Among these solidly blue districts are those where veteran Democrats, Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Lois Frankel, are competing on Tuesday. But the two women, both of whom are Israel supporters, will be facing brand new constituencies.

Wasserman Schultz, who is seeking a 12th term, has been representing Fort Lauderdale and southern Broward County in Florida’s 25th District. But on the new map, that district will stretch from Miami Beach to Delray Beach and is expected to turn red, according to Ballotpedia.

Wasserman Schultz has instead chosen to run in a redrawn 20th District, which will include most of Broward County’s Black-majority precincts. Her move to that district has sparked significant unease in a region that has sent Black Democrats to Congress since 1992, the Associated Press noted.

“That creates tensions between Wasserman Schultz and parts of the constituency,” Luis Fleischman, a professor of sociology at Palm Beach State College, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “She’s trying to win that constituency, and that’s a problem.”

Though Wasserman Schultz is facing four rivals, all of whom are Black, her main competition is Elijah Manley, a 27-year-old gay activist who said he converted to Judaism but is also a fierce critic of Israel. Manley has described himself as a Democratic socialist but is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Stephen Sussman, a professor of public administration at Barry University, said he believes that Wasserman Schultz still has a chance at winning if the other candidates end up splitting the vote, since Florida primaries don’t require a majority win.

“The reality of it is that all she needs is a plurality,” Sussman added.

But Fleischman said he could imagine the current tension turning into “a Black-Jewish conflict” that could end in her resignation.

Whether it’s at the ballot box or a future resignation, Fleischman stressed that a Wasserman Schultz loss would be “a lose-lose situation for the Jewish community.”

Frankel, meanwhile, has been serving constituents from Delray to West Palm Beach in the 22nd District. The revamped District 22, also expected to turn red, will instead cross from Palm Beach County in the east to Marco Island in the west. Frankel, who has been in Congress since 2013, will run in a reshaped 23rd District, which includes parts of Broward County and southern Palm Beach County.

She will face retired attorney Victoria Doyle, whose priorities focus on affordability, women’s rights and immigration reforms.

Republicans........

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