Politics | Florida lawmakers propose naming post office after the late Congressman Alcee Hastings

A large Postal Service building in Oakland Park would be renamed the “Alcee Lamar Hastings Post Office” under legislation supported by Florida Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Hastings, a civil rights crusader who repeatedly broke barriers and made history — not always positively – died in 2021.

“Congressman Hastings was a tireless fighter for South Florida families, and it’s only fitting that a post office named, in his honor, be at the heart and center of our district,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Broward-Palm Beach County Democrat who succeeded Hastings.

“I hope that this recognition will leave a lasting legacy in a part of our community that was deeply close to him. While there will always be a huge void to fill with Congressman Hastings’ absence in Congress, we will carry on his spirit of perseverance and steadfast commitment to serving others,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a written statement.

Cherfilus-McCormick introduced the legislation Wednesday to rename the Post Office at 1900 W. Oakland Park Blvd. So far it has six co-sponsors — including three members of the House Republican majority.

Among them is U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, who became the longest serving member of the Florida congressional delegation upon Hastings’ death. Hastings and Diaz-Balart served together in the House for more than 18 years, part of a South Florida delegation that was long marked by cooperation between Democratic and Republican members.

Hastings, who served more than 28 years in the House of Representatives died on April 5, 2021, at age 84, from pancreatic cancer.

As a newly licensed young lawyer, Hastings moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1964 — to a Broward County that was not a welcoming place for a young Black man at the time. After making a name for himself as a civil rights activist, then-Gov. Reubin Askew appointed Hastings in 1977 as a Broward Circuit Court judge. In 1979, then-President Jimmy Carter nominated Hastings to the U.S. District Court, making him Florida’s first Black federal judge.

But that lifetime appointment lasted just 10 years — and turned into the lowest point of Hastings’ career. He was indicted in 1981 on charge of conspiracy to solicit a bribe, and a jury found him not guilty. Congress later took up the issue, concluded he lied at the trial, and impeached and removed him from office.

Three years and two weeks after the Senate convicted him, Hastings was elected to the House of Representatives, becoming one of three Black Floridians who went to Congress that year — the first time Florida had sent a Black representative to Washington since 1877, when the post-Civil War era of Reconstruction ended.

He was re-elected 14 times. He was outspoken and used fiery rhetoric, but enjoyed cordial relationships with many Republicans. When he died, Diaz-Balart issued a lengthy statement full of praise — “brilliance, perseverance, and charisma” — and affection for Hastings.

“Congressman Alcee Hastings was more than a colleague; he was a dear friend of mine and my family,” Diaz-Balart said. “I am truly heartbroken by his passing. … Goodbye, my dear friend.”

Cherfilus-McCormick ran against Hastings twice in Democratic primaries, in 2018 and 2020. She won a 2022 special election to fill the vacancy created by his death and was elected to a full term in November 2022.

Other co-sponsors of the bill to rename the Post Office for Hastings are U.S. Reps. Darren Soto, D-Orlando; Frederica Wilson, D-Miami; Maria Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Miami; John Rutherford, R-Jacksonville; Kathy Castor, D-Tampa; and Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando.

Anthony Man can be reached at , on Twitter @browardpolitics and on