Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-District 20) and Congressman Ted Deutch (D-District 21) both face challengers in the Aug. 26 primary election.
Hastings’ district takes in parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties, including parts of Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage. He is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Port of Palm Beach Commissioner Dr. Jean Enright of Palm Beach Gardens and retired heavyweight boxer Jameel McCline of Delray Beach.
Enright was first elected to the Port of Palm Beach Commission in November 2004 and was re-elected unopposed in 2008 and 2012. She is the only woman on the port’s five-member governing board.
She received a bachelor’s degree from Tuskegee University in Alabama; a master’s degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C.; and a doctoral degree from the Catholic University of America, also in Washington, D.C. She is the widow of Dr. William F. Enright Jr. and the mother of two daughters.
For more information about Enright, visit www.drjeanlenright4congress.com.
McCline was born in Harlem, N.Y., and raised by a single mother with five other children. By age 7, he was placed in a foster home. McCline served a five-year prison sentence on a gun-sales felony conviction before turning his life around.
He earned a degree from the New York Institute of Technology and, at age 25 with no amateur experience, entered professional boxing, in which he garnered a 41-13-3 record, including four World Heavyweight Championship bouts and a 2006 victory that won him the combined WBO-NBO Heavyweight Championship.
For more information about McCline, visit www.mcclineforcongress.com.
Elected to Congress in 1992, Hastings is a senior member on the House Rules Committee and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process, which is responsible for matters associated with the inter-branch relations of Congress and the executive branch. He is the former vice chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Hastings graduated from Fisk University in 1958 and earned his law degree from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. In 1979, he became the first African-American federal judge in the State of Florida when President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the bench. He served in that position for 10 years. For more information about Hastings, visit www.alceeforcongress.com.
District 20 is considered a safe Democratic seat, so the winner of the primary will be the favorite to win the general election in November. However, Republican Jay Bonner of Palm Beach Gardens is also seeking the job.
Deutch’s District 21 includes all of Wellington, along with other areas in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Deutch is being challenged by Emmanuel G. Morel of West Palm Beach.
Morel was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, by a single mother and attended the College Frere Adrien Du Sacre-Coeur there.
He immigrated to the United States in 1975 at the age of 15 and graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1977. He graduated from Lee University in 1981 with a degree in accounting and theology.
Morel worked as an investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor for 29 years, the last two years as assistant district director. He retired in August 2012 and recently started pastoring at Lighthouse Ministries in West Palm Beach. He is married and is the father of three children. For more information about Morel, visit www.morelforcongress.com.
Deutch was elected to Congress in 2010, following four years in the Florida Senate. He has sponsored legislation to raise wages for low-income Americans, guarantee paid leave to working families, and invest in job-creating areas such as infrastructure, research and education.
As a member of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus, Deutch has worked to protect the most vulnerable and enact policies that ensure every child has an opportunity to succeed. As a two-term state senator, he passed legislation that reduced smoking across Florida and financed critical healthcare programs, including cancer research.
Deutch, 48, was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pa. He attended the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School.
He and his wife moved to South Florida in 1997 and live in western Boca Raton with their twin daughters and a son. For more information about Deutch, visit www.tedforcongress.com.
District 21 is also considered a safe Democratic seat. There is no Republican in the race, and the winner of the primary will face only write-in candidate W. Michael Trout in November.
