Ryan Nicol
The campaign for U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell says they’ve added another $500,000 during the third quarter, giving her more than $1.6 million raised for her 2020 reelection bid.
Mucarsel-Powell’s third quarter numbers follow a second quarter which saw her bring in more than $600,000. The Democrat is attempting to defend her seat against a pair of Republican challengers.
Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign says 90 percent of the contributions given during the third quarter were donations of $50 or less.
“Debbie’s strong fundraising shows just how broad her base of support really is,” said Blake Davis, a spokesperson for the Mucarsel-Powell campaign.
“She continues to fulfill her campaign promises to South Florida to lower prescription drug prices, reduce gun violence, and protect the Everglades, and that’s reflected in how energized and excited people here are about her campaign.”
The campaign says it retains $1.2 million cash on hand going into the fourth quarter of 2019.
Attempting to wrest the seat from the incumbent are Omar Blanco, the head of Miami-Dade Firefighters Local 1403, and restaurateur Irina Vilariño. Their third quarter fundraising numbers were not yet available as of this posting.
Mucarsel-Powell defeated incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in 2018 by fewer than 2 percentage points. That gave her the seat in Florida’s 26th Congressional District.
Because of that margin, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has identified Mucarsel-Powell as a potentially vulnerable 2020 incumbent.
The group added her to its Frontline Program, which aims to funnel resources to those tightly-contested seats.
