‘A question of money’: Senate Dems want spending boost for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell

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Will Rick Scott's challenger get help down the stretch?

With just over six weeks left until the November election, national Democrats want to invest in Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign.

“It is not a question of will or strategy or preference. It is a question of money,” U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said regarding the Florida race, per The Washington Post. “If we have it, we have a very strong chance of winning. And if we don’t, we don’t.”

“I just spent three days in Florida to make that very point,” added U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. “I think we will win Florida if we put in a real effort.”

The Post article draws the contrast between modest spending on behalf of Mucarsel-Powell, carrying roughly $5 million in investment, while Dems spend nearly $120 million in Montana protecting incumbent Jon Tester.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Gary Peters of Michigan said his organization is focused on “incumbent states” even as he acknowledged that the Florida race is within the margin of error.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has never lost statewide in three elections going back to 2010, but Democrats have reason for cautious optimism.

Morning Consult sees the Naples Republican as “potentially vulnerable” in November, given that he “leads his Democratic challenger within the margin of sampling error” in a new survey.

Scott is up 46% to 42% overall, with an even more slender 39% to 37% lead with independents.

In an attempt to close the gap, Mucarsel-Powell has been trying to bait Scott into a debate. She is open to debates on WPBF in West Palm Beach, WFLA in Tampa and WJXT in Jacksonville. Scott isn’t committing to any debates.

National outlets are watching this race, as evidenced by a RealClearPolitics analysis.

“A possibility for a split Senate exists if Democrats can pick up the Florida Senate seat, where former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is challenging Republican incumbent Rick Scott. The current RCP Average for the Florida Senate Race has Scott up by 4.3 points, but the latest The Hill/Emerson poll, taken earlier in September, had Scott up by only one point, indicating there’s a chance Mucarsel-Powell is gaining and could win the seat.”

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


10 comments

  • Cheesy Floridian

    September 23, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    I really think that Florida is way more purple than people want to believe. I do believe Scott is very vulnerable and Debbie can win. Don’t count out Florida

    • MH/Duuuval

      September 23, 2024 at 3:46 pm

      IVF for Trick but not for the masses.

    • Bobblehead Kammy

      September 23, 2024 at 7:13 pm

      You folks said the same thing two years ago with Rubio and Demings. I predict a repeat performance.

  • rick whitaker

    September 23, 2024 at 9:08 pm

    MAGA MARK, you predict, that’s where i lose you. you know nothing, how could you predict anything. that would be like going by earl shitts predictions, their worthless.

    • Bobblehead Kammy

      September 24, 2024 at 3:01 pm

      I’m going to remember this dumb comment from you Tennessee Rick. The first Wednesday in November I will be telling you, “I told you so!” No wonder you like Kammy. The two of you are dimly lit.

    • Billy Rotberg

      September 26, 2024 at 1:13 pm

      More Liberal supremacist gibberish from Rick.

  • rick whitaker

    September 24, 2024 at 4:27 pm

    MAGA MARK, if your dark side wins, i will do everything i can to fight back. that’s what men do, right. that’s a rhetorical statement because i know who i’m talking to. you are a maga man, i’m not exactly sure how they will take defeat. if your group tries another jan 6th, they just
    might be ready this time.

  • Christena Smalls

    September 25, 2024 at 10:46 am

    As a resident of Georgia I was very surprise that the democrat won the 2020 presidential election and two democrats won the senate seats. I personally desire the state of Florida for the democrats in 2024. I have always remembered the 2000 presidential election when the Supreme Court stopped the vote in Florida that began the court interference in state presidential elections.

  • Billy Rotberg

    September 26, 2024 at 1:14 pm

    Debbie gets funded by a warlord in the Ukraine. Now she needs more money?

  • Cindy

    September 27, 2024 at 2:43 pm

    New laws in Oct. Financial discrimination . You can sue the county I’d someone can’t afford housing and needs to sleep.. plus disability non funding discrimination we don’t give you enough to pay rents or mortgages.

Comments are closed.


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