DSCC teams up with Debbie Mucarsel-Powell on Rick Scott ‘snake’ hit

In the stretch run of what some polls say is a very competitive race for Senate despite a strong GOP registration advantage, Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is getting some outside help in her messaging against first-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Mucarsel-Powell is joining with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on a new TV spot. Per the Mucarsel-Powell campaign, the “bold new TV ad” scathes “Florida’s ultimate political snake.”

In proof of dedication to the serpentine imagery, the challenger’s operation accuses the Naples Republican of “slithering away” from debate challenges in a press release pumping the paid media, which is part of an “eight-figure buy.”

The ad says Scott is “Florida’s biggest snake” who “stole money from seniors in the biggest Medicare fraud ever” then “slid into the Senate, where he wrote the plan to end Social Security, raise your taxes, and ban abortion.”

“Rick Scott’s a slippery politician who’s been ripping you off. I’m Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, and I approve this message — because your family’s getting squeezed, and it’s time for a senator with a spine,” Mucarsel-Powell says in the close.

The Democrat hopes to close the gap with Scott as Democrats attempt to flip a state that neither Kamala Harris nor Tim Walz have personally campaigned in. The RealClearPolitics polling average says it’s a 4.5-point advantage for the incumbent, who has led in every public poll of the race to date.

Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign nonetheless argues in a memo also released Tuesday that Florida is the best pickup opportunity in the Senate for Democrats, an interesting flex given the trouble Ted Cruz faces in Texas, where some polls show Democrat Colin Allred ahead of the incumbent.

“In the face of Scott’s vast personal wealth, the Debbie for Florida campaign has been able to spend nearly at parity with the Scott campaign on TV in September. The DSCC has also announced a multimillion-dollar investment in Florida,” the memo says before nevertheless laying out some potential funding hurdles and the campaign’s plan to overcome them.

“What once may have been a $200 million investment for the Democratic Party earlier in the cycle has shrunk potentially tenfold. By running an aggressive three-week campaign across four core media markets — Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm — Democrats would reach 76% of the Florida electorate efficiently.”

The belief is that Mucarsel-Powell has a unique and durable appeal to “younger, Latino, and Black voters,” and “offers Democrats a solution to the challenges they’ve faced with one of Florida’s largest electorates: the Latino population.”

“From her compelling personal story that nips the socialism attack in the bud to her consistent appearances on Spanish language media, Mucarsel-Powell can mobilize Latino voters in Florida unlike any candidate running for Senate this cycle,” said Campaign Manager Ben Waldon.

Fundraising data is incomplete on the Federal Election Commission site, but shows Mucarsel-Powell actually had a hard money advantage at the end of July. Given that six weeks and a Primary have passed between then and now, though, that data offers limited visibility into what has been a dynamic race, albeit one where Scott hasn’t been willing to appear with his challenger on the same platform even once.