Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned from the House of Representatives on Tuesday shortly before the Committee on Ethics was due to hold a vote on expelling her as she faces federal indictments for fraud.
Her resignation in Florida’s heavily Democratic 20th Congressional District could clear the path for Elijah Manley, a convert to Judaism running as a Democratic Socialist and frequent critic of Israel who lead the primary in one poll before Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation.
A federal grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick in November on charges that she stole $5 million in federal disaster relief funds, laundered the proceeds and then used the money to support her 2021 congressional campaign. If convicted, she faces up to 53 years in prison.
The House ethics panel found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty on 25 charges in March and was minutes away from a vote on whether to recommend expelling her from the House when she announced her resignation.
Cherfilus-McCormick called the proceedings a “witch hunt” and said that her due process rights had been violated. She added that her resignation was effective immediately.
AIPAC endorsed the Florida congresswoman in the 2024 cycle, and she was generally a supporter of Israel in a mostly black district that includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Her primary opponent, Manley, 27 is an activist who has never previously held elected office. In 2020, he wrote that he was in the process of converting to Judaism.
“Just want to announce that I have been fully converting to Judaism since last year,” Manley, who is also black and gay, wrote. “Haven’t really announced it before except in some lefty groups, because I’m not all that religious and don’t need to tell everyone. However, I find so much comfort as an LGBT person here.”
In a followup post, he wrote that as a teenager he had worshiped in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but that “so many years of holidays with my Jewish comrades have made me feel loved and at home right here.”
He has subsequently described himself as Jewish. JNS sought comment from Manley’s campaign about his conversion.
Since Oct. 7, Manley has criticized Israel often and has received the endorsement of anti-Israel groups including TrackAIPAC.
“The starvation and blockade of humanitarian aid by Israel must cease immediately,” Manley wrote in 2025. “It is in violation of international law. Children in Gaza are starving and we must not be silent.”
Manley has also opined on the boundaries of Jew-hatred and who should speak about U.S.-Israel relations, saying that defenders of Israel “act cultishly about it.”
“Stop meddling in our country’s affairs,” he wrote in 2024, in reply to Aviva Klompas, a pro-Israel advocate who is an American. “You stuck to your own country.”
“This is a good time to remind your friends that Jews are not Israel and Israel is not Jews,” Manley wrote in a separate post in November 2023. “It’s also a good time to remember that Jews are not a monolith. People are not their governments. Any other suggestion is antisemitic.”
In the “Israel-Palestine” section of his website, he condemned Hamas as a terrorist group responsible carrying out the Oct. 7 attacks while also condemning the “far-right Netanyahu government for its bombardment of Gaza, illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank and blockade of humanitarian aid.”
Manley describes himself as a democratic socialist and in 2019 he mounted a failed bid to be the Socialist Party USA’s nominee for president, despite being constitutionally ineligible.
He routinely describes U.S. President Donald Trump and Republicans as “fascists,” and has said that police unions are “terrorist organizations” that will “kill your kids for no reason.”
“As a black man who is upset about everything, especially what’s happening in Gaza, I have to also consider my livelihood under a fascist racist administration,” he wrote in 2024.
A poll in February had Manley narrowly leading over Cherfilus-McCormick in the Democratic primary 38% to 35%.
The 20th Congressional District overwhelmingly votes for Democrats, and Cherfilus-McCormick ran unopposed in 2024.Under Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has significant discretion in the timing of any potential special election to fill Cherfilus-McCormick’s seat. The Democratic primary is scheduled for Aug. 18 and the general election on Nov. 3.
