Jacob Ogles
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson will knock on doors in West Tampa with state House Democratic Leader and state Senate candidate Janet Cruz.
Officials with Nelson’s campaign say he will greet volunteers and supporters and talk about the importance of this year’s election.
Vecinos de Nelson, the campaign’s grassroots team of supporters and volunteers, will join Cruz to kick off the campaign event at 2:30 p.m on Cypress Street.
The event may show the involvement the state’s only Democrat holding statewide office plans to take in boosting Democratic wins in what seems a favorable mid-term environment for the blue team.
He’ll campaign alongside Cruz, who is running for a critical state Senate seat, even as he fights for re-election.
Nelson of course faces likely the biggest political fight of his Senate career this year with a challenge by Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
And in one race that isn’t naturally trending for Democrats this year as of yet, the Real Clear Politics polling composite right now has Scott up by just over 1 percentage point, and two of three polls taken in July show the Republican in the lead.
Nelson and Scott most recently sparred in the news over election security with Nelson sounding the alarm Russian hackers have free rein to access voter files in some counties, but Scott suggesting the incumbent was “making things up.”
Fack-checking journalists have offered little clarity, with the Washington Post awarding Nelson four Pinocchios for the public charge, but NBC News reporting intelligence officials back up Nelson’s concerns.
Cruz, for her part, is embroiled in her own election battle, challenging state Sen. Dana Young, a Tampa Republican, in state Senate District 18. Cruz has served in the state House since 2010 and can’t seek re-election because of term limits.
A St. Pete Polls survey in July showed Cruz with a 1-point lead in the race, one of the top state Senate pickup opportunities for Democrats as they attempt to take the legislative chamber this year.
