Senate Democrats announce first TV buy in Florida, supporting Debbie Mucarsel-Powell

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
The DSCC said it will expand its map and make plays for seats in Florida and Texas.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced a TV buy in Florida. That signals critical national support for Democratic candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign against Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

The political arm for Senate Democrats announced plans to go on air in Florida and Texas, where Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz faces a challenge by Colin Allred. It marks the first time the national party made a broadcast play for either of the Republican-controlled Senate seats.

“Senate Democrats are expanding the map and going on offense,” said U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat and the current DSCC Chair. “All cycle long the DSCC has been preparing to take advantage of Sens. Cruz and Scott’s damaged standings in their states – and now our efforts in Texas and Florida are accelerating.

“Democrats have strong candidates running effective campaigns in both states, and as we escalate our communications against Sens. Cruz and Scott we will crystallize the case against them.”

While an aggressive move, the ad buys in Florida and Texas also come as polls show Democratic Sen. Jon Tester trailing Republican challenger Tim Sheehy. That has spurred a push by Democrats in Florida and Texas to encourage diverting resources in those states to potentially offset a loss in Texas.

Senate Democrats currently hold just a one-seat majority in the upper chamber.

A RealClearPolitics polling index shows Scott leading Mucarsel-Powell in Florida by an average of four percentage points. Republicans have felt confident Florida has evolved from an eternal tossup state to one that leans red.

But Scott notably won his seat in 2018 by a razor-thin margin, unseating Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson by just over 10,000 votes, about 0.12 percent of more than 8.1 million cast.

Mucarsel-Powell, a former Democratic Congressman from Miami, won the Democratic nomination in August.

Through the last FEC fundraising period, the Democrat reported $4.4 million in cash on hand to Scott’s roughly $3.9 million.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


11 comments

  • Donald Rogers

    September 26, 2024 at 11:43 am

    It is unfortunate that the ad Powell is running contains only lies. If this is her moral make-up then she is not needed to represent Florida.

    Reply

    • Jill

      September 26, 2024 at 3:14 pm

      There is nothing wrong with Kamala Harris we need some one to help fight for PEOPLE!!

      Reply

    • rick whitaker

      September 26, 2024 at 3:44 pm

      DONALD ROGERS, it’s unfortunate that donald rogers presents his maga opinions as fact that powell is a liar. thenon top of that you impugned her morals. well dude, i impugn your morals for lying about powell’s moras of which you know nothing about. what a maga cultist, you people are deplorable.

      Reply

    • Ocean Joe

      September 26, 2024 at 5:02 pm

      Her moral make up?
      Are you aware of who she’s running against?
      $1.7 billion in fines, costs and restitution for HCA’s looting of medicare.

      Reply

    • Phil Morton

      September 26, 2024 at 9:08 pm

      The ad is already out? Damn that was fast. Haven’t seen it yet but it’s bound to be good.

      Reply

    • Gary Meader

      September 30, 2024 at 4:50 pm

      I don’t get to see her ads-what lies do they contain? THX

      Reply

  • Billy Rotberg

    September 26, 2024 at 12:00 pm

    She gets funded by warlords in the Ukraine.
    Not a joke, think about it.

    Reply

    • Bubba

      September 26, 2024 at 4:22 pm

      So you support Medicare fraudster aka known on the Gulf Coast as “Red Tide Ricky”. The lies are on Scott and his puppet puller Trump. Does anybody else hear quacking from the above duck?

      Reply

    • Bubba

      September 26, 2024 at 4:23 pm

      Your post is a joke and sick one. Another GOP Putin kisser.

      Reply

  • SallyB

    September 29, 2024 at 2:17 am

    Rick Scott will win over his socialist opponent, especially if her electoral track record is a leading indicator of her prospects this November. I saw her campaign ad, and what I noticed apart from the prevarications was that she said she came to our country to flee a dictatorship. She omitted what kind of dictatorship so as not to alienate unnecessarily the Democrats’ Bolshevik 5th column.

    Reply

    • Rick Whitaker

      September 29, 2024 at 7:51 pm

      SALLY, whatever witch

      Reply

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