Anne Geggis
Democrats Rosalind Osgood and Terri Ann Williams Edden are facing off in the Special Democratic Primary Election Tuesday to represent Senate District 33 — but the winner is not likely to be eligible to cast a single vote in the Senate chambers during this Session.
That’s because the winner won’t face Republican Joseph Carter in the Special General Election until March 8 — three days before Session ends. The district leans heavily Democratic.
The scenario is a result of the ripple effect caused when U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings died in office last April. Sen. Perry Thurston Jr. resigned his office in July to run for Hastings’ seat. But Gov. Ron DeSantis did not call a Special Election to fill the seat until 93 days after Thurston announced his irrevocable resignation.
The newly minted Senator will have to vie for re-election in November, as all state lawmakers must because of the decennial redistricting process
Osgood of Fort Lauderdale, an associate pastor at New Mount Olive Baptist Church, has served for nine years as a member of the Broward School Board. As its most recent chairwoman, she was the face of the district when the School Board became the first in the state to defy DeSantis and voted to require students to wear face masks in school to mitigate the COVID-19 spread.
Williams Edden of Pompano Beach works in the office of the Broward State Attorney and runs a consulting business. She ran for this Senate seat in 2020, coming in second to the then-incumbent Thurston, drawing 24% of the vote in the Primary. She lost her campaign for County Commission in 2014 and for state Senate in 2008.
She has worked as a community activist, most recently spearheading an effort to clean up the Black cemetery in Pompano Beach that has fallen into disrepair.
Osgood, however, has drawn broader community support, raising $84,176 to the $7,850 that Williams Edden has collected. Osgood also won the endorsement of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board.
The district, for now, covers parts of Margate, Pompano Beach, Tamarac, North Lauderdale, Sunrise, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Oakland Park, Plantation and parts of Fort Lauderdale comprise Senate District 33. That will likely change when boundaries are redrawn this Session.
