Debbie Mucarsel-Powell says dead heat poll brings fundraising to life

Polling showing this year’s Senate race as essentially tied is boosting former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s appeal to donors.

That’s the message from her campaign, which has a million reasons to be happy about the impact of polling from Emerson College showing the her 1 point behind Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

“This surge in grassroots support confirms what we have been seeing across the state — Floridians are fed up with Rick Scott’s extremism and are eager for the freedom and economic opportunities that Debbie Mucarsel-Powell champions,” said Ben Waldon, Debbie for Florida Campaign Manager.

“Rick Scott’s attempts to steal hard-earned benefits from our seniors, raise taxes on middle-class families, and force an extreme abortion ban will cost him his job in November. Together, voters and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell will hold Rick Scott accountable for his fourteen years of failures.”

Fundraising has been competitive. Mucarsel-Powell raised nearly $5 million in Q2. Scott raised $3.1 million in the same period, along with more money going to supportive political committees.

Scott also has the ability to self-fund, in contrast to Mucarsel-Powell, who brags she has “not a dime of self-funding.”

As Roll Call noted in 2018, Scott put $63.6 million into his successful race against former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. He poured more than $75 million into his 2010 race for Governor, where he ran as an outsider candidate who toppled a Republican backed by many establishment elements of the party.

The Emerson survey is the closest poll yet between the two, and the result is particularly remarkable given the GOP lean of the sample, which is 39% Republican and 32% Democrat.

Scott is skeptical about polling, as he told Florida Politics last month.

“We’re going to have a big win. If you look at all my races, the polls have generally been way off,” Scott said in Jacksonville. “In all three of my races, polls said I was going to lose … because they’re not accurate.”

Inaccurate or not, at least some of the polls say the race is increasingly close.

In a Redfield and Wilton survey released last week, the first-term Republican from Naples leads his Democratic opponent 43% to 40%.

This survey shows a closer race than a Florida Chamber of Commerce/Cherry Communications poll, which has Scott at 52%, 7 points ahead of the Democrat.

Meanwhile, per a Public Policy Polling survey of the state conducted Aug. 21-22 for the Clean and Prosperous Energy PAC, Scott leads 46% to 43%.

A recent survey from Florida Atlantic University’s PolCom Lab shows Scott with a marginal 47% to 43% lead over his Democratic opponent.

Polling from the Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) shows Scott ahead of Mucarsel-Powell by 10 points (52-42%) with 7% of voters undecided.

Previous Florida Atlantic University polls showed Scott with varied leads, one by 16 points and the other by 2 points, and a Florida Chamber of Commerce poll showed a 15-point advantage for Scott earlier this Summer.

In an effort to improve her stock, Mucarsel-Powell is trying to bait Scott into a debate. His campaign has not committed to one yet. Hers is willing to do three.