Frederica Wilson is looking for some attention in Washington for matters other than her collection of hats.
Wilson represents one of the most solidly Democratic districts in the nation and has been winning elections for decades. Despite her position as a backbencher in the minority party, Wilson has surprisingly carved out a niche for herself in Washington. Part of that stems from her colorful personality and her seemingly endless array of hats. But part of that comes from being a canny legislator who has been able to keep an eye on the district while dabbling in national and international affairs. Nobody in Congress, for example, has been more out front in condemning terrorist group Boko Haram for kidnapping girls in Nigeria. Despite her age, Wilson has been savvy when it comes to social media, even leading the Twitter campaign against Boko Haram.
The South Florida congresswoman is about to get a lot more notice. This week, Wilson brought out two bills that will generate headlines. On Thursday, to make what would have been Trayvon Martins 20th birthday, Wilson proposed a resolution honoring him and went on the attack against Stand Your Ground and racial profiling.
Wilson wasnt done on Thursday. With the nation -- and the Republican presidential primary field -- arguing about vaccinations after the measles outbreak at Disneyland, Wilson said on Thursday she was going to file a bill making vaccinations mandatory for every public school student in America. Wilsons bill will probably go nowhere but she is going to win some attention for it -- and put a little pressure on a GOP majority that wants the vaccinations issue to go away.
This weeks time in the national spotlight wont hurt Wilson who has been stringing together electoral wins in South Florida for decades. She took 35 percent when she ran in the congressional primary in 2010 for the seat Kendrick Meek held -- an impressive figure considering there were eight other Democrats seeking the nomination. Rudy Moise, a businessman, attorney and doctor, placed a distant second with 16 percent. In 2012, Wilson did even better against Moise. In the rematch, when she had the endorsement of Barack Obama, Wilson took 66 percent against Moise's 34 percent. In 2014, Wilson ran over Michael Etienne in the primary before doing the same to Republican Dufirstson Neree, independent Luis Fernandez and a write-in candidate in the general election. Wilson wont be in any electoral danger any time soon.
Now 72, Wilson has gone about as far as she can up the electoral ladder. Theres a natural inclination from conservatives to dismiss Wilson as all hat and no cattle. But, underneath all her hats, is a shrewd political mind that has been winning elections since 1992 when she took a seat on the Miami-Dade School Board. Wilson is one of the most canny Democrats in Florida and she is starting to make some waves in Washington, even as a member of the House minority.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News.
