Sen. Rick Scott is rolling out a multimillion-dollar ad buy aimed at Florida’s key Hispanic voting bloc, which has increasingly supported Republicans in recent years.
Scott is running against second-term Democratic Rep. Debbie Mukarsel-Powell in the Senate and is considered a heavy favorite, but Democrats in the state have gained momentum after this week. major abortion rulings From the Florida Supreme Court.
Scott’s campaign estimates he will spend $700,000 a week on TV series, radio and broadcast service ads in English and Spanish.
With a multi-week ad purchase, there will be a variety of ads first television spot It’s a softer ad that doesn’t mention Mukarsel-Powell, but tries to center Scott’s opening message around “fighting the socialist agenda in Washington.”
“Socialism will kill the freedoms that create opportunity and erase the values that bind us together,” Scott says in the ad. “I’m Rick Scott, America represents what’s good and what’s possible.”
Scott has relied heavily on the issue throughout his political career, and he used the same message following Mucarsel-Powell in a race that sometimes heated up early.
“Former Congresswoman Mukarsel-Powell is a radical socialist and voted 100% with Nancy Pelosi during her short term in Congress, so the voters of South Florida voted her out of office at the first opportunity,” Scott said. Mucarsel-Powell entered the race last August.
Mucarcel-Powell, who was born in Ecuador, was elected to the House in 2018 to represent South Florida, but lost just one term to Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez in a year when Donald Trump won Florida by more than 3 points. in the presidential race.
Mucarsel-Powell pushed back on Scott’s framing, calling the attacks against him politically motivated disinformation.
“No amount of lies exposed by Rick Scott will cover up the fact that he has left Florida’s Latino communities behind by attacking access to affordable health care, refusing to act to end gun violence, and supporting authoritarian laws to control Floridians’ personal health care decisions. “said Lauren Chou, spokeswoman for the Mucarsel-Powell campaign. “Instead of fighting for economic opportunity, Rick Scott has opted for cheap political games and sided with extremists who claim that immigrants are poisoning our country.”
“Latinos are fed up with Rick Scott — and that’s why they’re going to support Debbie Mucarsel-Powell this November,” he said.
A two-term governor of Florida, Scott is undefeated in state races. He spent $150 million from his vast fortune on past campaigns and has already put nearly $3 million in personal funds into his re-election campaign.
Republicans have dominated the state in recent election cycles, including in 2018 when Scott defeated then-Sen. Bill Nelson, Democrat. That’s why Florida’s 2024 Senate race isn’t a major part of the political math for either party as Democrats try to hold on to a slim majority in the chamber.
Democrats hope that changes this week with two major abortion decisions from the Florida Supreme Court. The first would allow Florida to limit its abortion ban to six weeks, and the other would allow a ballot measure sought by reproductive rights groups to be placed on the November ballot. If it gets at least 60% of the vote in November, abortion rights will remain in the state constitution, usually for about 24 weeks.
After the court rulings, President Joe Biden’s campaign a memo He claimed he could win Florida and ran ads about abortion in Florida. Democratic candidates up and down the ballot also hoped the issue could return Florida to battleground status.
“To keep our Senate majority … it goes through Florida, we’re a purple state, and I’ve been saying that for months,” Mucarsel-Powell told MSNBC.ReidOut with Joy ReidMonday, the day the decision was announced. “Florida is back, baby.”