Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz staved off a challenge from Sanders-backed political outsider Tim Canova on Tuesday, holding on to her seat in Florida’s 23rd congressional district, according to major news outlets.
With nearly all the votes counted, Wasserman Schultz leads Canova by double digits, 57 to 43 percent.
Even though the Florida congresswoman handily defeated Canova, there was some thought that the race could be an upset, particularly since Bernie Sanders threw his support behind her opponent, at one point this year even sending out fundraising emails for him.
As a result, Canova managed to raise a formidable amount of money – over $3 million dollars – for his campaign, though it wasn’t enough to defeat the congresswoman in a district Clinton easily won in the state’s Democratic primary.
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Wasserman Schultz spent much of the year embroiled in controversy surrounding her role as the now-former chair of the DNC. A large chunk of passionate Sanders supporters claimed she put her thumb on the scale to help Hillary Clinton become the nominee, even though Clinton captured a clear majority of Democratic primary votes over Sanders.
Still, after the release of private DNC emails prior to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Wasserman Schultz was forced to step down in hopes that it would have a unifying effect on the party going into the general election.
After putting away her primary challenger, Wasserman Schultz will go on to serve her seventh term in Congress.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.