Anne Geggis
A second Primary Election race in Broward County pitting an incumbent Democratic Senator against a Democratic challenger appears to have been called off.
Rep. Patricia Hawkins-Williams had filed to oppose Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood in Senate District 32. But state elections filing indicate she’s switched to a race for House District 98, which is similar to House District 92. Hawkins-Williams has represented HD 92 for three terms.
“Sometimes on a team you have to play positions that you would rather not play but you take one for the team and ‘this one is for the team,'” Hawkins-Williams texted in response to a Florida Politics inquiry. “Leadership called, several others requested and I agreed.”
Osgood had only recently won her seat in March in a Special General Election. She was elected to fill the vacancy that occurred when Sen. Perry Thurston resigned to run for Congress.
That Hawkins-Williams was making a bid to represent SD 32 had upset Osgood. Hawkins-Williams had told her on a previous occasion that she would not do that, Osgood told Florida Politics.
“As a result of the conversations with Rep. Williams, my family, my mentor Congresswoman (Frederica) Wilson and a lot of prayer, I made a very hard decision to leave the School Board and run for Senate District 33,” Osgood texted Florida Politics in mid-May.
By May 25, however, Hawkins-Williams had changed her mind, filings with the state shows.
The Democratic Primary contest between Hawkins-Williams and Osgood would have been in addition to the one shaping up in the newly drawn Senate District 35
Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book had moved to SD 35 there to avoid a Primary with Osgood when shifting boundaries from redistricting put them both in the same district. But Book has ended up in a Primary contest anyway.
Former Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief is also vying for the Democratic nomination for the seat. Sharief has represented a number of the cities in the newly drawn district on the Broward County Commission.
Hawkins-Williams’ longtime Pompano residence falls in HD 98, which has been renumbered in redistricting. Although she filed for the seat after three other Democratic candidates, Hawkins-Williams will be the incumbent in the race.
Ronald Thurston Jr. filed in February, as did Robert Moore Sr., both of Pompano Beach. A third candidate, Carmen Jones of Pompano Beach, filed in May.
A partisan analysis of HD 98 shows the central Broward County district that covers parts of Coconut Creek, Oakland Park and Pompano Beach swung heavily for President Joe Biden in the last election.
