Val Demings’ hitting I-4 corridor for “Showing Up to Work” appearances

Val Demings and Marco Rubio get into a Mexican fruit fight.

Today, as her campaign to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio enters its final stretch, Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings will be in Tampa and Orlando — calling it her “Showing Up To Work Tour.”

It’s an apparent jab at her opponent, who has been repeatedly tagged with having one of the worst attendance records in the Senate. PolitiFact rates the claim as “Mostly True.” GovTrack, a nonpartisan website that collects congressional data, found that Rubio’s been absent for 9.2% of the roll call votes since he began his Senate career in 2011.  

In one of her TV ads, Demings addresses Rubio directly.

“But Marco, you’ve got one of the worst attendance records in the Senate,” she says, after noting that when she was Orlando Police Chief, she showed up in a way that reduced crime by 40%. “When Florida needs you, you just don’t show up.”

Demings recently called Rubio out for being absent at a vote to keep funding federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency as federal workers were on the ground helping Florida’s Hurricane Ian victims.

Saturday, however, Florida’s senior U.S. Senator will be turning up. He’s calling his two appearances, “Getting Things Done” rallies.

When Rubio has been asked about his repeated absences — also ammunition from his 2016 Democratic re-election opponent former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy and his 2015 presidential Primary campaign rival Donald Trump — Rubio has presented media outlets with a list of his legislative accomplishments.

His first appearance today will be from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Paul Family Farm, located at 1168 Boston Highway in Monticello, right outside Tallahassee. Later, at 4:30 p.m., Rubio is scheduled to be at The Bank Street Patio Bar 120 East Fort King Street in Ocala.

Meanwhile, Demings’ schedule shows she’s starting at 11 a.m. in Tampa, for a Get Out The Vote appearance at Cyrus Green Park, 2101 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and then at a block party from 2 to 5 p.m. in Orlando, at the Washington Park Library, 5151 Raleigh Street, Orlando.

Her campaign is promising further “Showing Up To Work” for appearances in Jacksonville, Miami, and Broward County, encouraging voters to hit the polls.