Scott and GOP fire back as Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell runs for Senate seat
TAMPA, Fla. (FLV) – Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., released a statement directed towards former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the newest Democratic candidate who announced she wants to unseat him in Florida’s 2024 U.S. Senate race.
“Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is Washington’s radical puppet who was hand-picked by Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi,” a press release from Scott’s campaign said. “South Floridians have already rejected her once and Floridians won’t hesitate to reject her again.”
Mucarsel-Powell is a former one-term congresswoman from Florida’s 26th Congressional District in 2020.
In 2018, she narrowly defeated Carlos Curbelo by just over 4,000 votes, but fell short two years later when Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez unseated her with nearly 52% of the vote.
Scott’s campaign argued that while in Congress, Mucarsel-Powell voted with Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., 100% of the time; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., 94% of the time; and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., 93% of the time.
The former congresswoman’s campaign launch video consisted of attacking Scott for not supporting ”women’s rights,” cutting “taxes for himself” and a threat that he would take away social security and Medicare.
“I’m ready to do something about it,” she said as she highlighted the fact that she was the first South American immigrant ever elected to Congress.
“I’m not afraid to take on Rick Scott or anyone that doesn’t put Florida first,” she added. “And that’s why I won’t sit here and do nothing, while Rick Scott gets rich abusing our government, taking our rights, raising our costs and destroying what makes [Florida] great.”
“The Democrats once again field a failed, rejected, and radical Democrat candidate who is completely out-of-touch with Florida,” Republican Party of Florida Chairman Christian Ziegler said.
Ziegler continued that Floridians have “made it clear” that at the ballot box and with each month’s voter registration reports, they want the state to become “more pro-freedom” and less radically left-wing.
“We’d like to welcome yet another failed congressional candidate to the crowded democrat primary,” Scott’s communications director Priscilla Ivasco said. “Floridians already rejected her once and they will reject her again.”
In a press release, the Republican Party of Florida blasted the Florida Democratic Party for their “glaringly apparent” desperation to push Mucarsel-Powell into the primary race.
“With Debbie joining the ranks, the Democrats now boast three failed congressional candidates,” the group said. “Their pleas for her to run underscore the party’s embarrassing decline.”
“Debbie’s rejection by voters for aligning with Washington’s leftist agenda instead of Florida families is a testament to her failure,” the Florida GOP said.
Mucarsel-Powell joins a growing group of Democrat primary contenders, including Phil Ehr, a 26-year Navy veteran who mounted an unsuccessful attempt to oust Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in 2020.
Other Democratic candidates include Matt Boswell, Jason Williams and Rod Joseph.
Scott also has three Republican primary challengers in Keith Gross, Dr. Joe Smith and Farid Khavari.
