Florida Democrats choose Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to take on Rick Scott in Senate race

Florida Democratic voters on Tuesday handed former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell their party’s nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott in November, teeing up the latest general election fight in a 14-year long effort to deny Scott public office.

With votes still being tallied, Mucarsel-Powell was running far ahead of her primary opponents, with about two-thirds of the vote. Scott was bringing in more than 80% of the vote in the Republican primary.

Mucarsel-Powell was the heavy favorite for the Democratic Senate nod. She launched her campaign over a year ago and held a significant fundraising lead over her three primary rivals, businessman Stanley Campbell, former state Rep. Brian Rush and businessman Rod Joseph. She also had the backing of the national Democratic Party; during a trip to Tampa earlier this year, President Joe Biden expressed his support for Mucarsel-Powell.

Throughout her primary bid, she largely ignored her Democratic rivals and focused instead on going after Scott, the former Florida governor who’s now seeking his second term in the U.S. Senate. Scott, who faced only nominal opposition in Tuesday’s Republican primary from Keith Gross and John Columbus, did much the same, running commercials attacking Mucarsel-Powell, for instance, during the Copa América tournament.

With the Democratic and Republican nominations locked up, those attacks are likely to increase in ferocity. Speaking to supporters in Coral Gables on Tuesday night, Mucarsel-Powell paused at one point to address Scott directly.

“Rick,you made a very big mistake when you decided to mess with my people. In November, we are going to show you the door and tell you ‘No más,’ ” she said. “You’ve been using the seat for self gain and self enrichment. It stops in November.”

While Florida played host for years to some of the country’s most expensive and closely watched statewide races, this year’s Senate contest isn’t likely to draw the same kind of national attention. Florida has lurched to the right in recent years as Republicans captured control of every statewide elected office and won supermajorities in the state Legislature.

In a statement released on Tuesday night, Scott said that his primary victory proved that Florida is a “red” state, and cast Mucarsel-Powell as a radical leftist who was out of step with an increasingly conservative Florida electorate.

“I ask every freedom loving Floridian to join me in this fight, which starts with defeating the socialist ticket and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell on November 5,” Scott said.

The electoral math in the state is in Scott’s advantage. The last time he was on the ballot in 2018 — when he narrowly defeated Democratic former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson — there were over 200,000 more registered Democratic voters in Florida than Republicans. Now, the GOP boasts a million more active registered voters than the Democratic Party.

Scott also has a vast personal fortune behind him to fund his reelection bid. Though Mucarsel-Powell has so far outpaced Scott in campaign contributions, the Republican senator has outflanked her on the airwaves, pumping millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign, including a seven-figure advertising effort.

Mucarsel-Powell and her campaign argue that Scott is more vulnerable than he’s made out to be, pointing to a recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll showing that only 35% of Florida voters view Scott favorably. Another survey from Florida Atlantic University’s Political Communication and Public Opinion Research Lab this month showed Scott leading Mucarsel-Powell by just 4 percentage points.

Mucarsel-Powell has also seized on Scott’s bid to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader, hoping to bill her campaign as a larger effort to stop Scott’s quest for more power.

Florida’s 27th Congressional District

Beyond the U.S. Senate race, Miami-Dade School Board member Lucia Baez-Geller captured the Democratic nomination on Tuesday to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in Florida’s 27th congressional district, beating former Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey as results continued to update.

The 27th district, which covers Downtown Miami, Little Havana, Key Biscayne and Kendall, is one of only two competitive congressional districts in Florida this year that national Democrats believe they have a shot at winning.

Still, ousting Salazar is likely to be an uphill battle. Not only does she have widespread name recognition in her district, she has far more cash on hand than Baez-Geller, who entered August with just about $46,000 in the bank, according to her latest federal filings. Salazar, by comparison, had nearly $1.7 million stashed away.

Polling in the race is scarce, though the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, has rated the contest as “Likely Republican.”

Florida’s 26th Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart easily overcame two primary opponents on Tuesday as he looks to win a 12th consecutive term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He’ll face off in November against Democrat Joey Atkins, who faced no primary opposition. though Diaz-Balart is heavily favored to win reelection.

Florida’s 28th Congressional District

Neither Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the former Miami-Dade County mayor, nor his Democratic opponent, Navy veteran Phil Ehr, faced any opposition in their bids to represent Florida’s 28th congressional district, which stretches from Tamiami to Key West. They’ll face off against one another in November, though the race largely favors Gimenez.

This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 8:18 PM.