Rick Scott launches new ad as Debbie Mucarsel-Powell brings campaign to his hometown

mucarsel-powell scott ASSOCIATED PRESS
Both campaigns are working to engage voters.

This year’s Senate race continues to develop, with Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott launching a new statewide ad buy while challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell brings the campaign to his front doorstep.

Scott is pushing a new ad slamming “silly socialist” Mucarsel-Powell. It takes her to task for what Scott frames as her support in Congress for “a wide-open border, taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants, and higher taxes for Americans.”

“You pay your taxes. She wants to give your money to people here illegally,” says a male narrator in the Scott spot.

Per POLITICO Florida’s Playbook, the multimillion-dollar ad buy will be seen during Thursday night’s Miami Dolphins game against Buffalo.

While the incumbent pushes television spots, the challenger is taking the campaign on the road, including to Naples, where Scott makes his home.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, will appear with Mucarsel-Powell in Naples on Saturday at 5:30.

This follows a rally in Miami Thursday, a meet and greet with union members Friday in West Palm Beach, and a reproductive rights rally Saturday (again in Miami) for the candidate.

Whitehouse may be best known to Floridians for sounding the alarm about Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance, the insurer of last resort that Gov. Ron DeSantis said is “not solvent.”

“Governor DeSantis’s repeated statements that Citizens is not solvent and the company’s own public comments about their ability to shift their financial losses to Florida policyholders have done nothing to assuage the Committee’s concerns about possible future requests for a federal bailout. Floridians are grappling with already astronomical insurance rates, and one future storm could make things far, far worse,” Whitehouse said in March.

Florida’s insurance crisis and other issues may be part of the Senator’s remarks in Naples.

If Scott is home on Saturday, he could attend an impromptu debate.

One bone of contention between the incumbent and the challenger is that she wants three debates, including a Spanish-language one, and Scott has yet to commit to one.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


8 comments

  • JD

    September 12, 2024 at 10:40 am

    Scott in a Debate? In spanish? “suplico el quinto” Ricky Boy, “suplico el quinto”

    • Alexa is Biased

      September 12, 2024 at 12:49 pm

      Why in espanol? Do they do political debates in English in Ecuador?

      • JD

        September 12, 2024 at 1:40 pm

        Not hardly considering most speak Spanish there but Florida has enough to warrant a Spanish debate for one or at least part of it. Work to establish a national language. Our founding fathers apparently didn’t think it was necessary.

        But you well know she’s calling him out on his claims of speaking Spanish proficiently.

        But in case he didn’t know (or you didn’t), the above means ‘I plead the Fifth’ – you know, because he used it over 70 times in his Medicare Fraud case.

  • MH/Duuuval

    September 12, 2024 at 1:37 pm

    Trick has been courting Spanish-speaking US citizens in Florida and PR for years. I, for one, would like to see him take his linguistic skills on the road.
    One thing is for sure: Speaking Spanish would minimize his ability to prevaricate.

  • Dr. Juan Gray

    September 12, 2024 at 4:01 pm

    WHY IS RICK SCOTT HIDING FROM A DEBATE WITH HIS CHALLENGER ?

    • MH/Duuuval

      September 13, 2024 at 9:37 am

      This is the QUESTION of the moment. Looks like all the MAGAs are in retreat from public debate, preferring to go with online mis- and dis-information.

  • The Cat In The MAGA Hat

    September 13, 2024 at 2:13 pm

    It did not help the dolphins last night,it won’t help Rick Scott Google Rick Scott Medicare Fraud

  • Cheesy Floridian

    September 17, 2024 at 5:05 pm

    I’m done with the GOP. Florida needs something different, I think going back to a purple state we can all get things that we would like and find common ground.

Comments are closed.


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