WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican U.S.
Sen. Rick Scott is hoping being reelected to a second term will put him in a position to earn a Senate leadership role , while former Democratic U.S.
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell seeks an upset victory that could help her party maintain its razor-thin control of the chamber. Scott hopes to succeed U.
S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down as the GOP leader.
A win for him would also reaffirm the strength of the Republican Party in the state despite ballot measures on abortion rights and recreational marijuana l egalization that Democrats hope will drive up turnout. Mucarsel-Powell is running two years after Democrats lost all five statewide seats on the ballot in Republican landslides. She was elected to represent a Miami district in 2018 and was the first Ecuadorian American and South American-born congressional member.
She lost her reelection to U.S. Rep.
Carlos Gimenez in 2020. Scott has a large fundraising advantage, including millions of his personal wealth he's pumped into the campaign, in a state that has shifted more firmly Republican. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee insists Scott is vulnerable , but national Democrats were slow to invest in Florida, one of the most expensive states to buy campaign ads.
Scott needed a recount to win his first Senate election, but that was when Democrats had an advantage in voter registration. This year, Republicans outnumber Democrats by about a million voters.