Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read August 2022 — Broward County’s Senate District 35 primary election has become a fierce competition between Democratic candidates Dr. Barbara Sharief and Lauren Book.
While in certain high-profile races Democrats have chosen to rally around specific candidates early in the hopes of demonstrating party unity, some local races, such as the State Senate primary for Broward County’s new District 35 have heated up in an acrimonious display of hard politics.
The redrawn District 35 is no longer divided between north Miami-Dade and south Broward County, currently represented by Democrat Shevrin “Shev” Jones. The new boundaries extend further and exclusively into Broward County, stretching from Miramar in the south toward Tamarac and Coral Springs to the north and bordering Collier County deep into Alligator Alley westwards. While Jones now finds himself running to represent District 34, District 35 has become an open contest between local Broward Democrat power players Lauren Book, the Senate Minority Leader, and former Broward County Mayor Dr. Barbara Sharief.
While Florida is a closed-primary state, the lack of any Republicans running for the seat means the primary is open to all, and the race is a wildcard that can swing in any direction.
Book and Sharief have found themselves in a heated and expensive race, trading barbs over their experience and professions. Book, herself a survivor, founded and runs Lauren’s Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing childhood sexual abuse and providing education, public awareness as well as political advocacy. Sharief, a Doctor of Nursing by profession, is the CEO of South Florida Pediatric Homecare Inc.
Over the course of the weekend, the two candidates faced each other in a short debate hosted by Local10 News, answering questions and trading barbs over their attack ads and their records. Books relocated to the district to avoid facing Senator-Elect Rosalind Osgood, moving from Plantation to run. Sharief has lived in the area and has served in the Broward County Commission and Miramar City Hall. During the debate and in response to attacks on her record regarding defrauding Medicaid, Sharief called Books’ statement “asinine”. Books for her part argues that Sharief “obfuscates the truth, and continues to point fingers.”
Both candidates answered questions regarding the type of campaign they’ve both been running. Attack ads have run the gamut from former TV spots that portray Book as fiscally irresponsible to Sharief having allegedly defrauded Medicaid.
As it stands, Sharief is suing Books for defamation, saying in a statement to Local10 News that, “I did not have the luxury of having a millionaire lobbyist guiding my future as Lauren’s father has for her. She has made up many provable lies and I feel sorry for her that she is so desperate to win that she has stooped so low.”
Book’s own campaign stated, “Our campaign has shared clear facts based on our opponent’s admission of overbilling Medicaid twice and our opponent’s voting record while on the Broward commission. Every word is truthful, verifiable, and relevant to her job.”
While their personalities and experience have taken center stage in the race, on policy the two candidates are fairly similar. Both candidates overlap on key issues, and style themselves as pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-gun control and pro-equal justice. With as many policy similarities as these, voters will have to choose who best represents the new Senate District 35 based on what seems to have become more a question of personality and personal preference as opposed to strong policy differences. Sharief believes the race is an opportunity for the new majority-minority district to elect an experienced local leader, with Book making the point during the debate that she was only drawn out of her former district by Republicans as a result of her strong leadership.
The primary will be decided Aug. 23, with early voting already underway.
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