Shevrin Jones files to succeed Frederica Wilson in CD-24

Sen. Shevrin Jones speaks during a media availability on Feb. 25, 2026. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)

Former state Senator Shevrin Jones is running to succeed eight-term U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in Congressional District 24, according to paperwork filed June 4.

“It’s filed and live,” Jones, a 42-year-old Miami Gardens native, told the Phoenix. A Democrat, Jones launched his bid to replace the same-party Wilson one week after she announced her retirement — after a strange back-and-forth where she initially claimed rumors of her stepping down were “crazy.”

Hours after filing, Jones told his social media followers to join him at the Koinonia Worship Center — his parents’ Pembroke Pines church — for “an important announcement.”

Jones is a former chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, and served in the Florida Legislature beginning in 2012. He served four terms in the state House before winning his Senate seat in 2020. He held onto his seat during the 2024 elections, and was even set to lead the Senate Democrats in 2028 before announcing last week he wouldn’t seek reelection.

*Sens. Ed Hooper (left), Ben Albritton (center), and Shevrin Jones (right) talk during Special Session F June 2, 2026. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)*

“It’s just been a pleasure to serve people,” Jones said on the Senate floor as he bid farewell to his fellow lawmakers. “Now I know when I travel the state of Florida, I have friends all over the state. And while I might not be here in this building, it’s my hope, after Aug. 18, that you can visit me somewhere else — maybe in Washington, D.C.”

CD-24 is one of the last primarily Black districts in the state, and one of just four remaining Democrat-leaning sects after Gov. Ron DeSantis redrew congressional lines last month.

Jones will face off against candidates like former Miami-Dade commissioner Jean Monestime, physician Rudolph Moise, and county resident Christine Sanon-Jules in the primary.

Rep. Wilson, 83, has represented the area since 2010. Axios reported in late May that she was privately planning to retire, but she flatly denied the reporting as a “crazy rumor.”

She announced her retirement three days later.

Wilson’s departure comes as House Democrats have pressured their senior citizen members to step aside for younger candidates. Seven of these incumbents nationwide have so far been outraged by younger primary opponents.

This story is courtesy of Florida Phoenix.

Florida Phoenix is a nonprofit news site, free of advertising and free to readers, covering state government and politics with a staff of five journalists located at the Florida Press Center in downtown Tallahassee. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.