Senator Rick Scott – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Hunter Crenian
The incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott defeated former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to win reelection on Tuesday.
As of 8:15 p.m., the Florida Division of Elections’ website showed that Scott had won with 55 percent of the vote, more than the 42 percent that Mucarsel-Powell had received.
As he celebrated his success in Bonita Springs, Scott announced his intention to run for Senate leadership of the Republican Party and commended the coalition that helped him win reelection.
“We can celebrate a bigger win together tonight, but we still have work to do. In front of a room full of applauding fans, he declared, “Next week we have another election, Senate Republican leader.” I questioned Mitch McConnell two years ago because I knew something needed to happen. To begin addressing the nation’s issues, we need a Republican Party in Washington, D.C., even if we have a fantastic Republican Party across the nation.”
While acknowledging that her attempt to get to the Senate was unsuccessful, Mucarsel-Powell cautioned that the state has not seen the last of her while appearing in front of her own supporters in Miami. She remarked, “I don’t think you have been paying attention if you think that this Latina right here is giving up on Florida.”
Recent surveys had shown that the gap between the candidates had narrowed to roughly four percentage points, or roughly half of the nine-point lead Scott had in early June, but the election’s final outcome was not as close as anticipated.
Abortion, the economy, climate change, and whether the Democratic candidate was a closet socialist, as Republicans claimed, were the main topics of the contest, which Democrats thought may help them maintain their slim majority in the U.S. Senate.
Rick Scott tried to run a clean campaign in the beginning, talking about his beliefs and his concern for the welfare of the state, but in the final months, the race also took a turn for the worse as both parties bombarded the airways with derogatory radio and television advertisements.
Mucarsel-Powell frequently accused Scott of supporting the insurance companies during his time as governor and occasionally accused him of profiting from Medicare fraud due to the impact of the current storm season.
In one television commercial, Scott was shown as a boa constrictor. The largest snake in Florida is not found in the Everglades. The advertisement states, “He is in the Senate.” “He committed the largest Medicare fraud in history by stealing money from seniors.”
In contrast, Mucarsell-Powell was frequently depicted as a socialist who wanted to raise taxes on working families while giving illegal immigrants a tax advantage. One of the advertisements says, “You pay your taxes; she wants to give your money to people here illegally.” “Silly socialist Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is unfit to serve in the Senate.”
Mucarsel-Powell’s chances of defeating a sitting senator were slim from the start.
After beating then-incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, who had served in the Senate since 2001, Scott was elected to the Senate in 2018. However, Florida had been shifting toward the Republican Party in recent years, which led analysts to believe that Scott had the advantage in the election despite Nelson’s lengthy stint in the Senate.
Additionally, Mucarsel-Powell’s record appeared very sparse in comparison to Scott’s, who held the office of governor of Florida for eight years prior to being elected to the Senate. Before losing her 2020 reelection bid, the Democratic candidate had only been in Congress for one term.
Scott’s advertisements frequently criticized the legislator, who was born in Ecuador, for having no experience. Mucarsel-Powell seems optimistic about her prospects, nevertheless.
Mucarsel-Powell rebutted accusations that her campaign was an unrealistic ambition in an August interview.
“It isn’t a dream at all. “This is feasible,” she said to the Spanish news agency EFE.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.