Luther Campbell, a former rapper-turned-activist, announced over the weekend that he is running for Congress.

Campbell, 65, who rose to fame as the leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew during the late 1980s, said he was running for the Florida District 20 seat held by U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Campbell expressed his intention to challenge incumbent Cherfilus-McCormick in the Democratic primary on the WPLG television show, “This Week in South Florida.”

He later wrote in a social media post that his campaign would focus on results and not rhetoric.

“I’m not going to Washington to grandstand,” Campbell wrote. “I’m going to bring resources back home to CD20.”

Campbell, known as “Uncle Luke,” announced that he had resigned as the football coach at Miami Edison High School to enter politics and run for the Florida District 20 seat, the Miami Herald reported.

“What I heard, and what I already know, is it is a very underserved community. Our district is very underserved,” Campbell said during his interview on WPLG, according to the Sun-Sentinel. “The district, the representation of the district, is not there. People want to be able to engage with their congressperson.

“I looked at the race and I said if the congresswoman was doing her job, then I wouldn’t get in the race. That’s not my thing.”

In a written statement to the Sun-Sentinel, Cherfilus-McCormick downplayed Campbell’s criticisms.

“Anyone has the right to run for office. That’s how democracy works,” she wrote. “But if there are questions about who is doing the job, just ask the constituents. They know who shows up and who fights for them no matter what, in Washington and at home.

“My record speaks for itself.”

Cherfilus-McCormick won her seat in 2022. She was indicted on federal charges in November 2024 over the alleged theft of $5 million in government COVID-19 relief funds, the Sun-Sentinel reported. She has pleaded not guilty to the 15-count indictment, according to the Herald.

Campbell ran for office in 2011 during a special election for Miami-Dade County mayor and finished fourth with nearly 11% of the vote, the Herald reported.

Campbell said he was in a better position than other Democrats in the race to reach out to Republicans -- including President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

“In this race, who’s gonna be able to go talk to Marco Rubio? Who’s gonna be able to go talk to Donald Trump? Me. I’m the only one that can do that,” Campbell said during his interview with WPLG. “Nobody else in this race he would respect. Nobody in this race. I mean, I got Marco Rubio on speed dial.”

Campbell was a controversial figure as a rapper with 2 Live Crew. The group topped the rap charts for four weeks with “Me So Horny” in 1989 and peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, But in 1990, they were arrested in South Florida on obscenity charges for performing that song and others from the album “As Nasty as They Wanna Be” in a nightclub, the Herald reported.

The hook to the song was taken from a line from the 1987 film “Full Metal Jacket” and sparked a legal battle over freedom of expression,Billboard reported.

The album was ruled obscene by a U.S. district court judge -- the first time a musical recording had ever had that label applied to it in U.S. judicial history. The decision was overturned on appeal by a six-member jury, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Campbell did not rap on “Me So Horny” but sang on other songs on the album, Billboard reported.

He also won a Supreme Court case against Acuff-Rose Music in 1994, according to Variety. That opened the door for song parodies like 2 Live Crew’s “Pretty Woman” to be allowed under fair use.

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