Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
With just three weeks until Election Day, Rep. Patrick Murphy is getting an assist from President Barack Obama.
The Murphy campaign released a new Spanish-language ad Wednesday. The 30-second spot features the president speaking directly to the camera, urging Floridians to vote for Murphy.
“Patrick will fight for immigration reform, better education, and higher wages. Working each day to improve our lives,” the president says in the advertisement, according to a translation. “Go out and vote for Patrick. Your vote is very important.”
The new ad comes one day after Senate Democrats pulled the last of their ad reservations in Florida. According to POLITICO, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee decided to slash its remaining ad reservations before the first U.S. Senate Debate. The Senate Majority PAC also pulled its remaining ads.
A new Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed a dead heat between Murphy and Sen. Marco Rubio. According to the poll, 49 percent of Floridians said they were backing Rubio, compared to 47 percent who picked Murphy.
The poll of 660 likely Florida voters was conducted from Oct. 10 through Oct. 16. It has a margin of error of 3.8 percent.
This isn’t the first time Obama has given the Murphy campaign a helping hand. In recent months, he’s taped a TV spot for Murphy’s campaign, penned a letter encouraging Floridians to vote for Murphy in the primary, and even sent a fundraising appeal to supporters.
Both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Murphy, and both helped raise campaign cash for Murphy ahead of his primary.
“President Obama knows that Florida needs a leader who will show up and work hard for this state and I am humbled to have him standing with me in this campaign. From reforming our broken immigration system, to investing in education and strengthening our middle class, I will fight to build on the president’s legacy,” said Murphy in a statement.
“While I am proud to stand with President Obama to fight for Florida families, Marco Rubio stands with Donald Trump. Rubio abandoned Florida’s Hispanic communities on immigration reform and stands by Trump’s bigoted attacks and racist immigration agenda. I look forward to spending the next six years fighting for Florida’s Hispanic communities and all Floridians in the U.S. Senate.”
