Current:Home > ScamsFlorida Sen. Rick Scott seeks reelection with an eye toward top GOP leadership post -EliteFunds
Florida Sen. Rick Scott seeks reelection with an eye toward top GOP leadership post
View
Date:2025-04-12 12:59:28
Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
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, and Scott’s victory came two years after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio won in landslides.
Murcarsel-Powell is hoping Vice President Kamala Harris lifts her and other Democrats on the ballot.
This year, Scott also is facing dents in his political resume, including his failure to earn a GOP majority two years ago after leading the National Republican Senatorial Committee and his losing challenge to upend McConnell from Senate leadership in a 37-10 vote. He also was nationally criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for a proposal he had to sunset federal programs every five years, which initially had no exceptions for popular entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Scott has focused his message on the economy and rising household prices during President Joe Biden’s administration. He also has spent months supporting former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, despite it taking him about a year after Trump announced his campaign to endorse him.
veryGood! (67355)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- The First African American Cardinal Is a Climate Change Leader
- Read Emma Heming Willis’ Father’s Day Message for “Greatest Dad” Bruce Willis
- Christopher Meloni, Oscar Isaac, Jeff Goldblum and More Internet Zaddies Who Are Also IRL Daddies
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Powerball jackpot grows to $725 million, 7th largest ever
- The Acceleration of an Antarctic Glacier Shows How Global Warming Can Rapidly Break Up Polar Ice and Raise Sea Level
- Inside Clean Energy: Coronavirus May Mean Halt to Global Solar Gains—For Now
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- U.S. hits its debt limit and now risks defaulting on its bills
Ranking
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Please Stand Up and See Eminem's Complete Family Tree
- Charles Ponzi's scheme
- The Corvette is going hybrid – and that's making it even faster
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- HCA Healthcare says hackers stole data on 11 million patients
- The Fed has been raising interest rates. Why then are savings interest rates low?
- Exxon Turns to Academia to Try to Discredit Harvard Research
Recommendation
Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
This snowplow driver just started his own service. But warmer winters threaten it
The Oil Market May Have Tanked, but Companies Are Still Giving Plenty to Keep Republicans in Office
To Understand How Warming is Driving Harmful Algal Blooms, Look to Regional Patterns, Not Global Trends
The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
X Factor's Tom Mann Honors Late Fiancée One Year After She Died on Their Wedding Day
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Miss King Charles III's Trooping the Colour Celebration
A Delta in Distress