Rapper Luther ‘Uncle Luke‘ Campbell, the former leader of the group 2 Live Crew, announced his plan to run for Congress in the 2026 Midterm Election during an appearance on Local 10 News‘ show This Week In South Florida on Sunday (February 15).
Campbell, 65, who has since worked as a free speech fighter and civic activist, gave himself a deadline of Sunday to make a decision and confirmed that he resigned as Miami Edison High School football coach last month with the intention to run for the Florida District 20 U.S. House of Representatives seat currently held by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who he’ll challenge in the Democratic primary. The rapper had previously ran for office in the 2011 special election for Miami-Dade County mayor, finishing with nearly 11% of the vote for fourth behind Julio Robiana, Carlos Gimenez and Marcelo Llorente, with Gimenez defeating Robiana in a runoff.
Campbell said he considered previously running for Cherfilus-McCormick’s seat in 2024, but declined as he “needed to do more outreach to community, and there was a sitting congresswoman who was doing the job.” Cherfilus-McCormick, who held her congressional seat since 2022, is facing legal challenges in federal court, having pleaded not guilty to a 15-count indictment accusing her of stealing a $5 million overpayment obtained through government disaster funds, though Campbell refrained from mentioning it, instead claiming he intended to combat President Donald Trump‘s administration.
“In this race, who’s going to be able to talk to [Secretary of State, former U.S. Senator and Miami native] Marco Rubio? Who’s going to be able to talk to Donald Trump? Me,” Campbell said via the Miami Herald. “I’m the only one who can do that in this race.
“Anything I got done in Liberty City, anything I got done in Miami, I had to have a conversation with [former] Mayor [Francis] Suarez,” he added. “Through [former Miami City Commissioner] Keon Hardemon. I had to have conversations with different people from the other side of the aisle.”
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