Daryl Campbell and Elijah Manley go for a rematch in Broward’s HD 99

State Rep. Daryl Campbell and candidate Elijah Manley competed in a three-way Special Democratic Primary contest earlier this year — and now they are meeting again to determine who will represent central Broward County’s House District 99.

This time, the incumbent looks to be in a stronger position than the challenger — raising more money and winning the endorsement of the Sun-Sentinel, which gave it to Manley for the last contest.

The district that Campbell and Manley are competing to represent has been renumbered and slightly reconfigured to cover Fort Lauderdale, west of Andrews Avenue, Wilton Manors, Lauderdale Lakes and Plantation. And this Primary contest is likely to draw more than the 9% of eligible voters who turned out last time to elect Campbell over Manley by 15 percentage points.

But just like last January’s contest, there’s no Republican candidate, so whoever wins this rematch Aug. 23 wins the seat. And all eligible voters, regardless of political party, are eligible to vote in this open Primary.

Manley has run for a number of offices, including a seat on the Broward County School Board while he was in high school. He charged that Campbell defeated him last January with a whisper campaign about his sexual orientation, he told Florida Politics. South Florida Gay News calls him a “young queer candidate of color who has risen from homelessness and extreme poverty to lead a new generation of activists.”

The district the rivals are competing to win had a significant LGBTQ community added since their last contest. Wilton Manors, which hosts an enormous Pride parade every June, was added to the district through redistricting, so that could help Manley.

Campbell, however, told the Sun-Sentinel he did not conduct a whisper campaign about Manley’s sexual orientation. His record shows that he voted against the Parental Rights in Education Law (HB 1557) that critics say discriminates against the LGBTQ community, and earned it the nickname “Don’t Say Gay” for the way it more tightly regulates classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Campbell, a licensed clinical social worker, is working toward his doctorate in social work at Howard University. He came to politics working as an aide for state Rep. Bobby DuBose, who resigned from representing the district to run for U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings’ seat.

Campaign records show that Campbell had drawn significant support, raising $60,357 for his re-election, compared to the $5,320 that Manley has raised, according to his reports, although Manley’s finance reports with the state Division of Elections are incomplete.

Manley’s reports show no spending from July 2 to July 29. The report that covers July 30 to Aug. 5 is missing from his personal account and his political committee, Friends of Elijah Manley, shows no activity for this election cycle.

Meanwhile, between his personal account and political committee, Generation Next Rising Stars, Campbell has raised $35,318 between July 2 and Aug. 5, his biggest month of fundraising for this cycle, besting last month’s high-water mark. He drew support from lawyers, other professionals and political committees. Three Hospital Corporation of America divisions gave him $1,000 each. ABC Liquors gave him $3,000.

Three agriculture companies based in Loxahatchee gave him $1,000 each. He also received $1,000 from FPCA PC, based in Tallahassee, and $1,000 from Agro-Industrial Management Inc.’s political committee, based in West Palm Beach. The Broward County firefighters PAC also gave him $1,000.

He’s spent $26,663 in the period spanning July 2 to Aug. 5, with most of it on items that show up in mailboxes. He spent $8,615 with Victory Political Mail in West Palm Beach for mail services and $10,627 on printing services with the National Campaign Branding Company in Hollywood.