Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell jumps into Florida Senate race

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) will challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Rick Scott in a race that could prove pivotal in attempts by Democrats to retain control of the U.S. Senate.

Mucarsel-Powell, who immigrated from Ecuador at the age of 14, is a Spanish-speaking Hispanic candidate from Miami-Dade who gives Democrats an opportunity to reassert themselves in one of the most crucial counties in the state. She’s jumping into the race amid a steady stream of encouragement from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others.

“I’ve been hearing from a lot of Florida families and they are ready for new leadership, for a change,” said Mucarsel-Powell in an interview, where she lashed out at Scott as a “complete fraud” who has “failed Floridians.”

Mucarsel-Powell, who officially entered the race on Tuesday, said she came to her decision after lengthy conversations with family members about what could be an expensive and difficult race, especially since Scott has shown a willingness to spend tens of millions of his own money in past elections.

“I don’t make any assumptions or underestimate how difficult it is going to be,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “This is a divided country. It’s a divided state. But what I have realized, what I have learned is that when you listen to Floridians across the state and you put their interests first, no amount of money is going to stop them from sending the right person to serve them.”

Many have viewed Florida as a battleground state for the past two decades, but it has been trending more and more Republican in recent elections. Former President Donald Trump won the state in 2020 — and Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by more than 19 points last year. National Democratic groups last year did not invest large amounts of money in either the governor’s race or the Senate race between former Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Still, Democrats contend that Scott is vulnerable. He has narrowly won all three of his races for office, including his razor-thin victory over then-incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in 2018. Scott has never run during a presidential election year when turnout is expected to be higher.

Scott has also gained outsized attention — and criticism from fellow Republicans — for his Rescue America plan. The proposal initially called for all Americans to pay income tax and for federal legislation to sunset in five years, including social security. Scott wound up backtracking his proposal and has insisted he would never support getting rid of social security.

“We’d like to welcome yet another failed congressional candidate to the crowded Democrat primary,” said Priscilla Ivasco, Scott’s communications director, in a statement Tuesday.

NRSC spokesperson Philip Letsou also criticized Mucarsel-Powell in a statement Tuesday, calling her a “socialist” and saying Florida voters will “reject her again.”

During the interview, Mucarsel-Powell brought up Scott’s convoluted positions on entitlement programs, but also took aim at his business past by noting his ouster as CEO of a company that later paid a $1.7 billion fine to settle allegations of Medicare fraud. Scott was not personally charged with any wrongdoing.

When asked whether national Democratic groups will bolster her campaign, Mucarsel-Powell said that “I’m not naïve at all to think everyone is going to come to our rescue here in the state of Florida.” She added, however, that she’ll work to show “that this is a race worth investing in.”

Scott’s campaign has already been openly dismissive of Mucarsel-Powell’s candidacy, saying even before she entered the race that she was a “failed congressional candidate” and too liberal for Florida voters. Scott has already been actively campaigning and has promised to visit all 67 counties ahead of next year’s elections. Over the last few months, he has also been showing up at county GOP fundraising dinners, a move that Republican leaders have hailed.

Mucarsel-Powell will likely have to deal with a Democratic primary ahead of a November 2024 election. Former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) is already in the race, as is Navy veteran Phil Ehr, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in 2020.

But state Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the lead Democrat in the state House, announced on Monday that she will not challenge Scott. Driskell, whose decision was first reported by NBC News, said in a statement that while Scott “does not deserve to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate,” she added she “realized that my work in the Florida House is not done yet.”

Driskell said she needs to continue to fight against policies she said have eroded education, taken away “women’s freedoms, and doing nothing as Florida become too expensive for Floridians.”

Scott will likely have to run in a primary as well, although no well-established Republicans have declared their intention to challenge him. Keith Gross, an attorney and businessman, has raised nearly $700,000 for his GOP primary challenge.