Scott Powers
Rep. Val Deming still hasn’t formally or publicly announced a run for the U.S. Senate, but the Democratic Congresswoman’s generic social media campaign advertising spending reportedly approached $200,000 last week.
Over a recent seven-day period, Demings spent $194,431 on Facebook fundraising ads declaring “Help us win in Florida,” POLITICO reported Wednesday.
Her commitment to run for the U.S. Senate, seeking a matchup against Republican incumbent Marco Rubio, is clear enough that three viable Democratic candidates, state Sen. Randolph Bracy, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala, and civil rights lawyer Natalie Jackson, announced their candidacies for her 10th Congressional District seat in 2022.
Demings’ coy candidacy also has drawn crossfire from the Republican Party of Florida and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Both began weighing in on her candidacy for the Senate.
Demings’ Facebook changes text regularly. The latest declares: “We’re building a massive grassroots movement to win in Florida — will you add your name now to join Congresswoman Val Demings’ team today?”
The ads link to a page still sponsored by Val Demings for Congress, with a fundraising pitch that declares: “Val has what it takes to win in Florida and continue unleashing a bold agenda that will benefit everyday Americans.”
Demings certainly has what it takes to get reelected in her western Orange County congressional district; she has won three elections by landslides without such an advertising blitz.
POLITICO’s James Arkin reported that Demings recent spending on Facebook advertising in one week is almost as much as she had spent on Facebook advertising since May 2018.
Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy had been running a similar Facebook campaign in recent months. But Murphy bowed to Demings’ candidacy Monday and dropped plans to run for the Senate. Murphy indicated that she is running for reelection in Florida’s 7th Congressional District.
Ayala did the same thing, switching her ambitions from the Senate to the House. However, the Republican Party of Florida still has Ayala displayed with Demings and former Rep. Alan Grayson at the Republican-registered Democrats trolling site floridadems.com.
3 comments
PeterH
May 27, 2021 at 1:01 pm
After the January 6th insurrection…..I’m done voting for Republicans for any office. Val Demings is a common sense Democrat and she has my vote. It’s wait-and-see which of the three Democrats running for Val’s soon to be vacated House seat floats to the top! I’ll be funding for any qualified Democratic candidate. Republicans across the board have lost my vote.
Dennis
May 28, 2021 at 8:09 am
That’s funny; it wasn’t Republicans that stormed the Capital…. you are doing exactly what they want you to do….. sheep….
Sean
May 28, 2021 at 3:45 pm
Calling Val Demmings a “common sense” Democrat is contradicted by history. This is a woman who has a 100% approval from the abortion lobby, tried to expel 138 Republican members of Congress, and lost her service firearm when she was in the Orlando PD. Wrong on the issues, hyper-partisan, and incompetent to boot.
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