A lawsuit has been filed against Governor Ron DeSantis to force him to schedule a special Congressional election.
"The governor of Florida has waited now 24 days and counting since the death of my dear friend and mentor Alcee Hastings and has yet to set a date for a special election to fill that seat."
Rev. Elvin Dowling is a candidate for the seat in heavily Democratic District 20, which covers portions of Palm Beach and Broward counties.
He accuses the governor of "playing politics."
"It is no secret that he is doing this for the purpose of being able to limit progress with what's going on in Congress, but we can't allow that to happen."
Dowling says the governor doesn't want to fill the seat because it helps out Republicans in the U.S. House, where the Democrats have a slim majority and are trying to pass numerous items of legislation.
State law doesn't specifically note a timeline for DeSantis to set the election, but Dowling accuses him of violating the first, 14th and 15th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
The reverend points to the statute's wording regarding the ongoing session of Congress to say the intention of the law is to get the seat filled.
"If a vacancy in office occurs in any district in the state Senate or House of Representatives or in any congressional district, and no session of the Legislature, or session of Congress if the vacancy is in a congressional district, is scheduled to be held during the unexpired portion of the term, the Governor is not required to call a special election to fill such vacancy."
"We interpret that statute to mean that if the House is in session, which it is, and there's time remaining on the term, which there is, then the governor therefore has a mandate to act and he has refused to do so."
Dowling goes so far as to say that DeSantis is trying to curry favor with what he calls "far right wing extremists" in a goal to get the 2024 Presidential nomination for the Republican party. While there's been widespread nationwide speculation about the governor making a run for the nation's highest office, he has never said that he intends to do that.
Just a couple of weeks ago, several members of Florida's Democrat Delegation in the House held a press conference to push DeSantis to set a date for both a primary and general election. Whomever wins the Democrat primary for District 20 is expected to ultimately win the seat, but there is at least one candidate running on the Republican side. Contrast that to ten people vying for the Democrat nomination.
The governor, to this point, has not commented as to when he may schedule the elections.
Dowling's book, "Still Invisible?: Examining America's Black Male Crisis," features a foreword written by the late congressman and it is permanently displayed in the Governor's Mansion.
"So if on the off chance that Ron DeSantis stops by his own library, he will know that Elvin Dowling and Alcee Hastings were there. And we're encouraging him, we're mandating, that he do the right thing."
The reverend cites the words that Hastings wrote in January 2020 for the reason he's running:
"Today, as I now face the twilight of a remarkable journey...I am heartened to know that...my friend Elvin Dowling, will pick up the baton and run the race for such a time as this."
His efforts to hold that House seat are not hampered by the fact that Hastings' son, Alcee "Jody" Hastings II, has endorsed Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness in the race.
Hastings lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on April 6, at the age of 84. He was first elected to Congress in 1993.
Photo: CBS 12