Ryan Nicol
Political action committees associated with Everytown for Gun Safety and Planned Parenthood are adding to Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell‘s campaign account as she seeks reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund PAC donated $4,000 to Mucarsel-Powell this week. The Everytown for Gun Safety PAC added another $1,000.
The donations showed up as part of the “48-Hour Notice” window. Within 20 days of an election, all donations of $1,000 or more must be reported separately to the FEC. That requirement remains in effect until 48 hours before Election Day.
Other recent 48-Hour reports showed Chris King and a PAC associated with Rep. Darren Soto pitching into Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign. She’s looking to hold the seat in Florida’s 26th Congressional District amid a challenge from Republican candidate Carlos Giménez. Giménez currently serves as the Miami-Dade County Mayor.
The race is expected to be close, though Mucarsel-Powell received some good news Wednesday. The Cook Political Report shifted its CD 26 rating from a “toss-up” to “lean Democratic,” giving Mucarsel-Powell the edge.
Analysts’ predictions for the race vary. Larry Sabato has the race as a “toss-up.” FiveThirtyEight, meanwhile, rates the seat as “likely Democratic” and gives Mucarsel-Powell a 79% chance of winning reelection.
The Democratic incumbent has consistently raised more money than Giménez. Last quarter, Mucarsel-Powell added more than $2 million as compared to less than $670,000 for Giménez.
That trend appears to be holding, according to since-filed 48-Hour Reports. Those filings have shown Mucarsel-Powell raising nearly $98,000 in the past week. Giménez added just over $21,000.
Again, those reports only display donations greater than $1,000 and only cover money raised within the 20-day window leading up to the Nov. 3 election. It’s possible Giménez raised more money earlier in October (following the 3Q report), or that he has an influx of cash coming from big donors or the GOP itself.
But that would defy the pattern seen since Giménez entered the race in January. Though the race should be competitive, Mucarsel-Powell has simply been the better fundraiser.
Mucarsel-Powell won the seat in 2018 by 2 percentage points.
