Debbie Mucarsel-Powell ad blames Rick Scott for climate, insurance ‘disaster’

With less than five weeks to go before voters are counted, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is reminding voters of what’s at stake in the Senate election.

Her new ad, entitled “Disaster,” sees the Democratic candidate making the case against incumbent Rick Scott in her own words in an ad that is part of a multimillion-dollar buy, per her campaign.

“Another hurricane, more devastation, and Rick Scott is only making it worse. Scott took $3 million from insurance companies and let them raise rates and deny claims. He even voted against billions in disaster relief funds,” the former member of Congress charges as she address viewers.

Though insurance costs have escalated under Scott’s successor as Governor, Ron DeSantis, Mucarsel-Powell blames the Senator.

“Rick Scott sold us out, and now your property insurance bill is four times the national average. It has to stop,” she says, adding that “natural disasters are bad enough without Rick Scott making it worse.”

The insurance attacks would seem to be potent given the destruction Hurricane Helene wrought in the Sunshine State before moving north, eventually imposing historic devastation on the Blue Ridge Mountains further north.

The question, though, is whether there is time in the campaign to make up this ground.

The current RCP Average for the Senate race has Scott up by 4.3 points. In an attempt to close the gap before voting ends on Nov. 5, Mucarsel-Powell tried to bait Scott into a debate.

She said last month that 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, meaning ads like this have more importance.

The ad buy is part of a flurry of last-minute spending, as Democrats seek to reverse trends that have marginalized the party in a state where Republicans win every political argument.