(NewsNation) — NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ has called the race for the U.S. Senate seat for Florida in favor of Rick Scott. See all Florida race results here.
Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott faced Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in his bid for reelection in 2024. Mucarsel-Powell, no stranger to politics herself, previously represented Florida’s 26th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives between 2019 and 2021.
Scott, who has held the seat since 2019 and before that, served as Florida’s governor for eight years, coined his campaign the “Rescue America Plan,” centering it around securing the border by finishing the wall, “(Stopping) left-wing efforts to rig elections,” and cutting taxes. Scott also sought to replace outgoing Senate GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Former President Donald Trump and multiple police associations endorsed the 71-year-old’s Senate reelection bid.
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Mucarsel-Powell served as the representative for Florida’s 26th congressional district from 2019 to 2021, covering the southern part of Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys. As the primary caretaker of her elderly mother, Mucarsell-Powell’s initiatives included protecting Medicare, Social Security and access to affordable healthcare. After losing her father to gun violence, Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign also focused on expanding gun safety laws.
If elected, Mucarsel-Powell would be only the second Latina to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada who spent time campaigning for Mucarsel-Powell.
As the wealthiest member of the U.S. Senate, Scott has had a financial advantage over his challenger, putting in $13 million of his own money into this campaign by late September. To offset this, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reportedly pumped money into Florida to back Mucarsel-Powell and launched an English- and Spanish-language text campaign to target Latino voters in a bid to maintain the razor-thin majority held by the party.
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As of early September, the race was in a dead heat, polling showed.
Florida is considered less of a swing state than in the past but the outcome of this race will affect the balance of power within the U.S. Senate in 2025. A total of 34 Senate seats are up in 2024 with 23 being held by Democrats and Independents. Republicans can retake control of the upper chamber of Congress by stealing two seats from Democrats or by winning the 2024 presidential election and stealing just one other seat.
