Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Omari Hardy
Omari Hardy (Democratic Party) was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 88. He assumed office on November 3, 2020. He left office on July 28, 2021.
Hardy (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 20th Congressional District. He lost in the special Democratic primary on November 2, 2021.
Hardy also ran for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 88. He was disqualified from the Democratic primary scheduled on August 23, 2022.
Hardy resigned from the Florida House of Representatives in order to run for Florida's 20th Congressional District.[1] Florida is one of five states with a resign-to-run law, which requires officeholders to resign from their current office in order to run for another.
Biography
Hardy earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Miami. He worked as resident manager at Adopt-a-Family of Palm Beaches, a middle school civics and history teacher, and education development manager at West Palm Beach Housing.[2]
Elections
2022
State house regular election
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 88
Incumbent Jervonte Edmonds defeated Roz Stevens in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 88 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jervonte Edmonds (D) | 71.2 | 26,045 |
 | Roz Stevens (R)  | 28.8 | 10,552 | |
| Total votes: 36,597 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jervonte Edmonds advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 88.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Paulette V. Armstead (D)
- Rubin Anderson (D)
- Rick King (D)
- Omari Hardy (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Roz Stevens advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 88.
U.S. House special election
See also: Florida's 20th Congressional District special election, 2022
Florida's 20th Congressional District special election, 2022 (November 2, 2021, Democratic primary)
Florida's 20th Congressional District special election, 2022 (November 2, 2021, Republican primary)
General election
Special general election for U.S. House Florida District 20
The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. House Florida District 20 on January 11, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D) | 79.0 | 44,707 |
 | Jason Mariner (R) | 19.4 | 10,966 | |
 | Mike ter Maat (L) | 0.7 | 395 | |
 | Jim Flynn (No Party Affiliation) | 0.5 | 265 | |
 | Leonard Serratore (No Party Affiliation) | 0.5 | 262 | |
 | Shelley Fain (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 22 | |
| Total votes: 56,617 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robert Ornelas (No Party Affiliation)
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 20
The following candidates ran in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 20 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | 23.8 | 11,662 |
 | Dale Holness | 23.8 | 11,657 | |
 | Barbara Sharief | 17.7 | 8,684 | |
 | Perry Thurston | 14.8 | 7,283 | |
 | Bobby DuBose | 7.0 | 3,458 | |
 | Omari Hardy | 5.9 | 2,902 | |
| Priscilla Taylor | 3.4 | 1,677 | ||
 | Elvin Dowling | 1.3 | 646 | |
 | Emmanuel Morel | 0.9 | 454 | |
 | Phil Jackson | 0.7 | 343 | |
| Imran Siddiqui | 0.6 | 316 | ||
| Total votes: 49,082 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Dwight Anderson (D)
- Krystal Jordan (D)
- Matt Boswell (D)
- Pradel Vilme (D)
- Natalia Allen (D)
Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 20
Jason Mariner defeated Greg Musselwhite in the special Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 20 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jason Mariner | 57.8 | 3,500 |
 | Greg Musselwhite | 42.2 | 2,553 | |
| Total votes: 6,053 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Lateresa Jones (R)
- Roland Florez Jr. (R)
- Bernard Sansaricq (R)
- Vic DeGrammont (R)
2020
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 88
Omari Hardy defeated Danielle Madsen and Rubin Anderson in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 88 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Omari Hardy (D) | 73.8 | 53,248 |
| Danielle Madsen (R) | 22.7 | 16,396 | ||
| Rubin Anderson (No Party Affiliation) | 3.4 | 2,487 | ||
| Total votes: 72,131 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Matthew Peters (G)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 88
Omari Hardy defeated incumbent Al Jacquet, Cedrick Thomas, Sienna Osta, and Philippe Louis Jeune in the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 88 on August 18, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Omari Hardy | 43.2 | 8,561 |
 | Al Jacquet | 26.1 | 5,166 | |
| Cedrick Thomas | 19.5 | 3,861 | ||
 | Sienna Osta | 8.1 | 1,598 | |
| Philippe Louis Jeune | 3.1 | 621 | ||
| Total votes: 19,807 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jonathan Cooper (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Danielle Madsen advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 88.
Campaign themes
2022
State house regular election
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Omari Hardy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
U.S. House special election
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Omari Hardy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
The following themes were listed on Hardy's campaign website.
| “ |
Medicare For All Omari Hardy is fighting to:
Healthcare is a human right, not a privilege. That means everyone should have equal access to quality healthcare, and no one should have a better chance of surviving an illness, or getting treatment for a chronic condition, based on how much money they have. Yet, in America – the 6th richest country in the world – nearly 30 million people lack health coverage and nearly 20,000 people die each year because of it. It’s a moral abomination, a result of our broken, for-profit healthcare system. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Omari Hardy is running for Congress because he believes in healthcare as a human right. No one’s access to care should depend on a corporation’s ability to profit off of it. Omari will work to pass Medicare For All and stop insurance companies from profiteering off of our health. He will also support President Joe Biden’s proposal to allow the federal government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies on the price of prescription drugs for Medicare patients. Green New Deal Omari Hardy is fighting to:
Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the human species today. It threatens our economy, it threatens our health, it threatens our infrastructure, and it threatens our lives. No where in America is this more true than in Florida, and no where in Florida is this more true than in South Florida. A state surrounded on three sides by water is a state that needs a Green New Deal. And communities like ours that are threatened by sea level rise on one hand and climate gentrification on the other need a representative in Congress who will fight to make the Green New Deal a reality. Omari Hardy is running for Congress to champion policies that will stop climate change, create millions of green jobs, and repair the damage that has been done to communities of color by corporate polluters. That is what the Green New Deal will do for us and our community, and Omari is fighting to make it a reality. Housing For All Omari Hardy is fighting to:
Our nation is in the grips of an affordable housing crisis, and our nation’s leaders are not doing enough to end the crisis of high rents and unaffordable home prices for working families. But Omari believes that housing is a human right. That means:
As a city commissioner in Lake Worth Beach, Omari advocated for more affordable housing and approved over 150 units of affordable and workforce housing while in office. He also fought for measures that would have fined the city’s slumlords and used their fines to provide legal counsel to families facing eviction. As a member of Florida House, Omari advocated for more affordable housing funding and fought against cuts to Florida’s affordable housing trust fund. As your representative in Congress, Omari will fight for housing for all by pushing for the funding needed to build over 10 million permanently affordable housing units. Omari will also push for funding to revitalize and decarbonize existing housing in redlined, historically Black communities. Justice For Workers Omari Hardy is fighting to:
Unions built the middle class, and the middle class built the American Dream. That is not a platitude – it is a historical fact. When unions were strong, workers were strong, families were strong, America was strong. But over the last several decades, the middle class has struggled, and it has struggled because politicians on both sides of the aisle have worked together with big business to take power from labor unions, and consequently, from workers themselves. This trend started with the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. Taft-Hartley took power from unions and workers by promoting and allowing so-called ‘right to work’ laws. And it continued here in Florida in 1968, when voters enshrined ‘right to work’ in the state constitution. ‘Right to work’ really means ‘right to work for less,’ and what Dr. King said of places where ‘right to work’ is law, is unfortunately true of our community in South Florida. We need higher wages, better jobs, and more civil rights for workers. And we need a representative in Congress who will fight to pass national labor laws that will raise wages and improve benefits and protections for all workers in every state, including workers in Florida. Omari Hardy is proud to have held a union card during his time as a classroom teacher and is the only person in the race to have been a member of a labor union. Omari knows that workers need power and that there is power in a union. As a city commissioner, Omari fought for fair wages for city employees, and during the COVID-19 crisis, he fought for hazard pay and for personal protective equipment for all essential workers. While serving in the Florida House, Omari fought against Republican attacks on workers and their right to organize. As your representative in Congress, Omari will work to leverage the immense power of the federal government to improve wages, benefits, and workplace safety for all workers in every state, even Republican-controlled states like Florida. Once elected, Omari will work to:
Women’s Rights Omari Hardy is fighting to:
Over the last 100 years, Americans have advanced women’s equality one step at a time. In 1920, after a decades-long suffrage movement, the country ratified the 19th Amendment and granted women the right to vote. More than four decades later, in 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act and banned sex-based discrimination. The very next decade, in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court affirmed a woman’s constitutional right to choose, and the next several decades saw the Court reaffirm and build on that fundamental right. While progress has been slow, the last four or five generations of Americans have seen women’s rights advanced and the cause of equality moved forward. But in recent years, women’s rights have come under attack. Republican lawmakers nationwide have proposed legislation to roll back the hard-won rights that have been affirmed and expanded over the last 100 years. Since 2016, states across the country have enacted nearly 200 restrictions on abortion. In 2019, seven states passed so-called “fetal heartbeat” bills that have the effect of banning abortions after approximately six weeks, which is before most women know that they are pregnant. In 2019, Alabama “surpassed” those seven states and enacted a near-total ban on abortion. In 2020, Florida enacted an insidiously marketed “parental consent” law. The law requires pregnant minors to get their parents’ consent before they can get an abortion, and it contains no exemptions for incest victims, sex-trafficking victims, orphans, or foster children. This year, Texas passed a law creating “abortion bounties,” or financial rewards to Texans who sue people for providing an abortion or for providing assistance to a woman who has obtained an abortion. Omari Hardy is running for Congress to advance the rights of women and girls. He knows that Democrats in Congress cannot sit idly by while Republican-controlled states roll back our progress in the fight for equality. As your representative, Omari will push for federal legislation to protect a woman’s constitutional right to choose. He will also work to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which deprives poor and minority women of their reproductive freedom. Finally, Omari will fight to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and put an end to the gender wage gap that has women earning 82 cents on the dollar for the same work as men. Education Omari Hardy is fighting to:
America’s public education system is both a moral and a strategic outrage. Too many children lack access to the education they need to achieve their potential, and too many workers lack the skills they need to compete in a 21st century economy. As a former public school teacher, Omari Hardy knows education. And as a Black man, Omari knows how historic inequities in our education system can draw “bleak boundaries” around the potential of young people of color. He knows that in order for every child to have access to a quality education, our country must invest in its public education system and dismantle the structures rooted in white advantage that have segregated our schools and underfunded schools in Black communities. As your representative in Congress, Omari will ‘fight the good fight’ to make America do right by its students and their families. Gun Violence Omari Hardy is fighting to:
Florida’s Republican leaders have a shameful record on gun violence. After two mass shootings in Florida – one at Pulse and another at Marjory Stoneman Douglas – they still refuse to enact common sense gun reforms. And while Republicans in Florida are guilty of inaction on guns, Republicans in other states are guilty of much worse. This year, for example, Texas passed a law allowing most Texans to carry handguns without a permit. Other states adopted similar legislation. Every year, Republicans in state legislatures across the country find new ways to endanger our communities. But Omari Hardy is running for Congress to stop them. Omari knows that we need national legislation to enact common sense gun reforms for all 50 states:
As your representative in Congress, Omari will fight not only to make these reforms a reality but also to address the gun violence that affects our inner-city communities, gun violence that kills 26 Black Americans every day in this country. Omari knows that we can end the violence in our communities, but he also knows that we need solutions tailored to the problem. That is why, as a State Representative, he filed a bill with Senator Shevrin Jones to set up a task force to study inner-city gun violence and to allow local governments to use evidence-based measures to stop the violence. In Congress, Omari would go even further and propose bold legislation at the federal level to address the many shades of the gun violence epidemic that plagues inner-city communities across America.[3][4] |
” |
2020
Omari Hardy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Hardy was assigned to the following committees:
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 14.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators were scored based on their votes on health care, the economy, public schools, affordable housing, clean energy and water, reproductive rights, the freedom to vote and more.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2021, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 2 to April 30.
|
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Sun Sentinel, "Five elected officials have resigned so they can run for Congress in South Florida special election," accessed January 12, 2022
- ↑ The Sun-Sentinel, "Questionnaire: Omari Hardy, candidate for House District 88," June 28, 2020
- ↑ Omari Hardy's 2021 campaign website, "On the Issues," accessed September 27, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Al Jacquet (D) |
Florida House of Representatives District 88 2020-2021 |
Succeeded by Jervonte Edmonds (D) |
