PINECREST, Fla. – The only Latino running for a seat in the U.S. Senate in November is trying to win over a Republican candidate in an increasingly red state by highlighting his moderate stance on many issues, including Latin American politics.
Former Rep. Debbie Mukarsel-Powell, a Democrat, says families across the state are struggling, and she knows from personal experience. Her mother lives with her and her 24-year-old daughter was also under the same roof until recently. Mucarsel-Powell said housing in Florida has become so expensive.
Those daily struggles, he said, lead him to challenge Sen. Rick Scott, a well-funded Republican seeking a second term in a state that has turned increasingly red in recent years.
Scott Mukarsel-Powell was 4 points ahead final survey By the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab, within the poll’s margin of error, and consistent with other polls showing Scott. leading single digit. Still, it’s a tight race in a state that Republicans dominated in recent elections.
Early voting continues for Florida’s Aug. 20 primaries, and Mukarsel-Powell and Scott face a nominal race for their party’s nomination.
Visiting a cafe in this posh Miami-Dade town in June, Mucarsel-Powell talked about how would help lower the cost of living for Floridians, including working to lower prescription prices and property insurance rates, and pushing to expand the use of solar panels.
“Seniors have to go back to work because they can’t afford their property insurance rates, students can’t get the education they want because of the cost of living,” he said.
Mucarsel-Powell, 53, He made history as the first Ecuadorian American and the first South American Member of Congress, emigrated from Ecuador at the age of 14. When her mother arrived, she cleaned the houses, and Mukarsel-Powell said she helped. His father was killed in an armed incident in Ecuador.
After one term in office, Mucarcel-Powell lost her seat to Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez in 2020. He went on to join Giffords, a gun violence prevention organization founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
There is only one Latina currently elected to the US Senate: Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada.
Eduardo Gamarra, a political science professor and pollster at Florida International University, said Mucarsel-Powell faces a tough race as the underdog.
Republicans hold the majority of registered voters in Florida, Gamarra said. “You can tell by that alone that the Mucarsel-Powell fight is up,” he said.
Scott, 71, is a prominent name in the state, having served as governor for eight years. He won both gubernatorial races with less than 50% of the vote, and then barely registered a majority to win the Senate in 2018 by nearly 10,000 votes. Scott is the wealthiest senator in office and has the ability to self-finance his campaign. He has loaned or given almost $14 million of his own money to his campaign until July. In 2018, Scott spent nearly $63 million to defeat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.
Mucarsel-Powell presents herself as bipartisan at campaign events and Zoom calls and GovTrack counts it that his voting record is “purple,” meaning he voted with Democrats and Republicans.
Scott’s campaign disputed that assessment.
“Debbie Mukarsel-Powell went to Congress for one term, voting 100% with Nancy Pelosi, 94% with Ilhan Omar, and 93% with the AOC before voters fired her,” Scott campaign spokesman Will Hampson wrote in an email. statement. “He’s been silent on our open borders, the big spending he voted for has caused inflation to crush Floridians. … He’s a socialist with nothing to run from, so he’s forced to lie about Rick Scott. It’s sad, and Florida voters will reject him in November if he wins the primary. they will do.
For years, Republicans have blamed state and national Democrats as part of their appeal to the state’s large Hispanic voters.socialists” Similar to the left-wing authoritarian leaders of countries like Venezuela and Cuba.
Mucarsel-Powell has pushed back against the label and distanced herself from some of President Joe Biden’s Latin American policies. He said he shouldn’t lead Removed Cuba from the list of non-cooperative countries against terrorism.
Once a battleground, Florida has shifted more to the right in recent years. According to two latest polls, former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris by an average of 8.5 points in Florida, a state President Joe Biden won by about 3% in 2020.
The November election will be a test of where Florida Democrats stand after devastating losses in the midterm elections. Gov. Ron DeSantis became the first Republican governor since 2002 to win overwhelmingly Hispanic Miami-Dade County. Republican Senator Marco Rubio also won re-election in 2022 with more than 16% of the vote.
Focus on abortion rights
Mucarsel-Powell is making abortion rights a key issue in the race.
“This is a health issue. It’s a civil rights issue,” he said, adding that it was a decision that should be made confidentially between the woman and her doctor.
Florida recently banned six-week abortions. As nearby states have passed similar bans, the closest state to offer abortion after six weeks is North Carolina, where it is legal up to 12 weeks. Virginia is the next closest state, where abortions are legal up to 26 weeks. Scott said he would support replacing the six-week ban with a 15-week ban.
Floridians will be able to vote in November establishes abortion rights in the state constitution: The ballot measure seeks an amendment to restrictions on abortion before the viability of a fetus, which is considered to be about the 24th week of pregnancy. This would include exclusions past this point for “the patient’s health as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Ballot measures in Florida need 60% to pass, meaning they need support from both Democrats and Republicans. Some abortion rights advocates have refrained from politicizing the issue.
“This is not political. It shouldn’t be political. But there’s a party that’s politicizing that right and that freedom away,” Mucarsel-Powell said, adding that the six-week ban came with a Republican-majority supermajority in the state legislature. That’s a fact. That’s not politicizing it.”
He also noted Scott voted against a bill that would have prohibited states from imposing restrictions When advertising in support of IVF, about IVF treatments and their affordability. Scott responded to the criticism at the time by saying he supported a bill to strengthen state, rather than federal, protections for IVF.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are outspoken supporters of abortion rights, IVF and access to fertility treatment. and made this issue a priority of the campaign.
According to Gamarra, the FIU professor, there is a general perception that Harris is influencing down-ballot races across the country.
“It will give Mucarsel-Powell a boost,” he said. “But it’s not going to give Democrats the boost they really need in a state that’s overwhelmingly Republican.”
For more from NBC Latino, sign up for our weekly newsletter.