Debbie Mucarsel-Powell endorses Javier Fernández over her former district chief of staff in SD 39

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
Fernández is competing against Daniel Horton-Diaz for the Democratic nomination.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is endorsing Rep. Javier Fernández in the Democratic primary for Senate District 39.

Mucarsel-Powell made the announcement despite the fact her former district chief of staff, Daniel Horton-Diaz, is also competing in that contest.

“I am endorsing Rep. Javier Fernández for District 39 because he understands the importance of finding real solutions to man-made climate change, solving our affordable housing crisis, and fixing Florida’s broken unemployment system,” Mucarsel-Powell said in a Friday statement.

The race is one of the highest-profile legislative races of the 2020 cycle. GOP Sen. Anitere Flores is term-limited, giving Democrats hope they have a chance to turn the seat blue this November.

“In the State Senate, I’m looking forward to having a partner in Washington who I can count on as we work together to fight climate change, end gun violence, and solve our housing crisis,” Fernández said in response to Mucarsel-Powell’s endorsement.

“Together, I know we can bring real change to Florida.”

GOP Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez and non-party affiliated candidate Celso Alfonso have also qualified in the contest.

Fernández topped the field in the most recent month of fundraising. Fernández added more than $33,000 to his campaign account in May. Florida Future, a political committee affiliated with the Fernández campaign, collected another $70,000.

Rodriguez added a combined $48,000 while Horton-Diaz collected just $2,200.

Alfonso did not file in the contest until June, thus was not required to submit a fundraising report for May.

SD 39 covers all of Monroe County and part of southern Miami-Dade County.

Ryan Nicol

Ryan Nicol covers news out of South Florida for Florida Politics. Ryan is a native Floridian who attended undergrad at Nova Southeastern University before moving on to law school at Florida State. After graduating with a law degree he moved into the news industry, working in TV News as a writer and producer, along with some freelance writing work. If you'd like to contact him, send an email to [email protected].



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