Florida GOP slams Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for fundraising in New York as Helene bears down on state

Florida Republicans criticized U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for fundraising from New York as her state braces for a hurricane.

The Miami Democrat, her party’s nominee to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott this year, held a Manhattan fundraiser on Tuesday with donors in the Empire State. The event took place as Floridians all along Florida’s Gulf Coast turned their eyes to a tropical system that had formed over the weekend.

“While Senator Rick Scott was focused on Hurricane Helene headed to our state and the safety of Floridians, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell spent Tuesday night fundraising and hobnobbing in New York City,” reads a Republican Party of Florida statement issued Wednesday. “It’s clear where Debbie’s priorities lie — and it’s not with us.”

Christopher Bouzy, a progressive social media influencer, on Tuesday posted on X that he was attending a fundraiser for Mucarsel-Powell in New York.

The same day, Mucarsel-Powell posted several updates about the weather threat to Florida, along with some political attacks on Scott. She did not mention the fundraiser in New York.

Her campaign also sent out fundraising appeals by text message on Wednesday to Florida voters, many of whom were preparing for Hurricane Helene.

Forecasts show Hurricane Helene will make landfall today in the Florida Panhandle or Big Bend area.

A text message obtained by Florida Politics showed that around 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday, the campaign sent a picture of Mucarsel-Powell’s dog Kali and a first-person appeal from the animal asking for donations to the Senate campaign.

The text message, presumably typed by a human in Kali’s stead, asks for donors to give “$5 or whatever you can spare to help my mom, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, defeat Rick Scott in Florida and protect Democrats’ Senate majority!” The message honored “National Dogs in Pawlitics Day,” which was actually on Monday.

Democratic sources noted Scott on Tuesday also attended a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., one for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican. Scott’s staff said that was before Scott left Washington to come to areas in Florida under storm threat.

Scott, who notably holds his public office now, has attended hurricane briefings through the week, including Monday and Tuesday briefings over the phone with the director of the National Hurricane Center. He has posted photos on his campaign feed showing him meeting in Florida locations with constituents threatened by the storm. That included parts of the Big Bend and Panhandle on Wednesday and Levy County on Thursday morning.

“The people of Florida deserve a Senator that shows up for them, not special interests and liberal elites,” the RPOF statement states. “News for you Debbie, Florida isn’t for sale.

“Our prayers are with the thousands of Floridians currently evacuating and all those in the path of this dangerous and historic storm.”