JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Now that she's facing 22 federal counts, including conspiracy and fraud, many are wondering what's next for U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown as she runs for re-election in a newly drawn district.
Brown is charged with participating in a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, concealing material facts on required financial disclosure forms, theft of government property, obstruction of the due administration of the internal revenue laws and filing false tax returns.
According to an indictment that was unsealed Friday, Brown used money from her campaign to give to the charity One Door for Education and, at times, deposited some of that money into her own personal bank account.
Brown pleaded not guilty on all counts in federal court Friday.
“My heart is really heavy. This has been a very difficult time for me, my family, my constituents. But I'm looking forward to a speedy day in court to vindicate myself,” Brown said outside the courthouse. “I'm looking forward to presenting the rest of the story.”
Brown waged a long-running legal battle against a congressional redistricting plan spawned by accusations of gerrymandering, but she recently dropped her appeal of the newly drawn districts, which she had taken to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The move came after a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court rejected Brown's challenge to her redrawn district. It also came two days after Brown qualified to run this year in the new Congressional District 5, which stretches across the northern part of the state from Jacksonville to Gadsden County, west of Tallahassee. The district used to run from Jacksonville south to the Orlando area.
Brown argued that the new east-west configuration of the district violated the federal Voting Rights Act, but the three-judge panel in April rejected her position.
Felony charges won't affect re-election bid
Rick Mullaney, with Jacksonville University's Public Policy Institute; Jennifer Carroll, former lieutenant governor and News4Jax's political analyst and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida believe Brown will work to keep her office, despite the indictment she now faces.
"The congresswoman has made it clear she is going to fight the charges. And after the indictment -- we should be clear that an indictment does not disqualify her from running, and it does not disqualify her as a member of Congress -- I think you can expect to see the congresswoman continue to seek re-election to the Fifth Congressional District," Mullaney said.
News4Jax political analyst Jennifer Carroll, who once ran against Brown, explained that being convicted of a felony does not prevent a member of Congress from serving.
“They are still obligated to serve. The only way they can not be in Congress to serve is if the House of Representatives or the Senate vote to expel a member of Congress,” Carroll said.
She said the Constitution only lays out three requirements for serving in Congress -- a person must:
- Be at least 25 years old
- Be at U.S. citizen for the past seven years
- Live in the state in which they are elected
“Nothing states about being in prison to exclude you from representing in the Congress,” Carroll said. “Once voters have elected you to office, you're there unless removed by the voters or House or Senate.”
DeSantis said that although Brown can remain in Congress even if she is indicted, public corruption is held as a high priority.
"She has the ability to defend herself and she can remain in the Congress even (if) she's indicted. She can run for re-election again and the voters can factor that in. But I can say, if convicted, I think these are serious offenses and I think it would result in her being expelled from the House of Representatives," DeSantis said. "She said she's going to contest it, so it could potentially be a long process. I would say that, if true, the allegations are pretty damning because when we get elected, our job is to represent the people who sent us there, not to feather our own nest."
Challengers could seize opportunity
Brown is being challenged by fellow Democrats -- LaShonda “L.J.” Holloway, of Jacksonville, and former congressman and senator Al Lawson, of Tallahassee.
“My prayers go out to she and her family,” Lawson said Friday in Tallahassee. “I don’t want to wish any bad luck. I’ve known her for over 40 years. I think any time you have an indictment like this, it’s pretty serious, and I think she needs to pay more attention to the case than anything else.”
Lawson declined to go so far as to say Brown should withdraw from the race.
“That’s a decision they’re going to have to make,” Lawson said. “It’s hard to run against those kind of indictments that they’re faced with. That’s one decision they’ll have to make. I was looking forward to the competition.”
A recent poll by the University of North Florida shows Brown holds a 3 percent lead over Lawson, her closest opponent.
Holloway, a newcomer to the political scene who jumped into the race in October, trails far behind the two with just 4 percent support.
But 40 percent of likely voters said in the poll that they’re undecided.
"I am focused on my race and entered the race in October 2015 to represent the people of the Fifth Congressional District because I was tired of hashtags and politics as usual," Holloway said in a statement.
Brown’s career highlights
Brown is a Jacksonville native and began her political career serving in the Florida House of Representatives. After 10 years in Tallahassee, she decided to campaign for a House seat in Washington, D.C.
The state Legislature carved out a new Third Congressional District after the 1990 Census, and Brown decided to run. She faced several candidates in the Democratic primary in 1992 and defeated Andy Johnson, a white radio talk show host, in a two-candidate runoff.
She went on to win the general election in November of that year.
In 1995, the boundaries of the Third District were struck down by the Supreme Court. One of the main instigators of the lawsuit was Brown’s old political rival, Johnson. Brown rallied against the changes, but the district lines wound up being redrawn. She still won re-election in 1996.
Brown explored a Senate run in 2009 to fill the seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez, but ultimately decided to seek re-election to the House.
She’s now held that seat for 23 years.
Previous cases of lawmakers being indicted
An indictment in federal court means a grand jury has decided there’s enough evidence to bring the case to trial, which could be a long process, extending past the November election.
News4Jax political analyst Jennifer Carroll said it is possible for Brown to win re-election despite the indictment. Carroll also pointed to several cases in which lawmakers were indicted while up for re-election.
One of the most recent examples happened in April 2014, when U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, of New York, was indicted under federal fraud charges related to a health food store the congressman once owned in Manhattan.
He won re-election in fall 2014. Two months later, he pleaded guilty to one charge of felony tax evasion and resigned from Congress in January 2015.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, who is retiring this year after 46 years in Congress, was re-elected in 2010 after a scandal involving his taxes.
Rangel did not face federal charges, but the House Ethics Committee still investigated, which caused Rangel to step down as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. In his House Ethics Committee trial, he was found guilty of 11 charges and was censured, which is a formal and public group condemnation.