The scandal surrounding Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) could send another far-left Israel critic to Congress, after a House Ethics Committee panel found her guilty on Thursday of 25 charges and lawmakers now move toward expelling her from the chamber.

Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in late 2025 for a range of financial crimes  including allegedly stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, money laundering and illegal campaign contributions.

Cherfilus-McCormick has been a consistently strong supporter of Israel since taking office, when she defeated a Democratic rival by just four votes in a 2021 special election race. She served last year as ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East subcommittee, but stepped aside, as required by Democratic Caucus rules, after her indictment.

Even before the indictment and Ethics Committee inquiry, Cherfilus-McCormick faced primary challenges including from Elijah Manley, a young progressive who has been critical of Israel. Manley, 27, who has leaned into Cherfilus-McCormick’s indictment as fuel for his campaign, sat prominently behind her at her Ethics Committee trial last week. Dale Holness, the candidate who lost by a hair to Cherfilus-McCormick in 2021, is also running again.

A poll of 300 likely primary voters in Pensacola in February found Manley leading the field with 38% of the vote, followed by Cherfilus-McCormick with 35% and Holness with just 10%. In a head-to-head matchup with Holness, Manley held a double digit lead, 45%-33%.

Manley has topped the field in fundraising with $678,000 to Holness’ $185,000, but Manley reported having burned through nearly all of that war chest as of the end of 2025, with just $6,000 left on hand with months to go until the mid-August primary.

Manley has been endorsed by the anti-Israel group TrackAIPAC, which requires its endorsees to support an arms embargo on Israel and describe the war in Gaza as a genocide.

Last summer, he argued that the U.S. should not defend Israel from Iranian counterattacks during the 12-day war, saying, “It’s not America’s responsibility to defend Israel from the consequences of attacking Iran right now, especially while we’re trying to negotiate a nuclear deal. Americans don’t want more forever wars.”

Even before the war in Gaza, he accused supporters of Israel of acting like the country is “above criticism and act cultishly about it.”

But Manley has also condemned Hamas and its Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, called on various occasions during the Gaza war for the return of hostages and celebrated their return. He also criticized those who planned to withhold their votes from Democrats in the 2024 election in protest of the situation in Gaza.

“Elijah condemns Hamas terrorists for the brutal and unacceptable October 7th, 2023, terror attack that claimed the lives of 1,300 Israeli civilians and the kidnapping of hundreds more,” his campaign website reads. “He also condemns the far-right Netanyahu government for its bombardment of Gaza, illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, and blockade of humanitarian aid.”

“Elijah Manley believes in the right to peace, dignity, and safety for both Israelis and Palestinians, including Israel and Palestinian right to self determination and the right to exist,” the site continues. “In Congress, Elijah will be an advocate for a just and lasting peace rooted in the value of human rights, an end to violence and suffering, and security for both peoples.”