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Candidates in important South Florida congressional race say they are ‘optimistic’ for win

WESTCHESTER, Fla. – Democrat incumbent for Florida Congressional District 26, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell went to a polling site in Westchester Thursday for a big Republican endorsement.

“The Trump movement has to end, and for me, the best way to do that is to send Debbie Mucarsel-Powell back to Congress,” J.C. Planas, former State representative, said.

Mucarsel-Powell is finishing a strong first term in Congress, where she fought for Everglades restoration, gun control, immigration reform and affordable health care.

“What we need to do is make sure we protect what we have now, which covers over 25 million Americans, many of them Latinos in our community,” she said Thursday in Westchester. “And make sure that we make those improvements by lowering those premiums and lowering the price of prescription drugs”

Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the Congressional candidates have been unable to run a conventional campaign, although Mucarsel-Powell has held events with her supporters like the outdoor gathering Thursday in Westchester.

Gimenez has barely campaigned at all. He’s mostly seen announcing Miami-Dade County’s COVID-19 policy, something which he said he is proud of despite the virus killing more than 3,600 people in his county.

“So, the medical experts from the White House task force have complimented me on the things that we’ve done here and actually used Miami-Dade County as a kind of model for the nation,” Gimenez said.

He does have wide name recognition from 9 years as Miami-Dade mayor, but Gimenez has been outraised by Mucarsel-Powell, leading the Cook political report to state that the 26th district is leading Democrat.

“I feel optimistic, but cautiously optimistic, but you never know. I don’t look at any of that I just keep on going,” Mucarsel-Powell said.

Gimenez feels that the race is still a dead heat and he is also optimistic.

With 5 days to go, this is a close one.

Florida’s 26th Congressional District runs from Kendall to Key West.

>Early voting election location in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

>GET ELECTION READY: For complete information and resources, visit Local 10′s 2020 Voter Guide.

>COVID-19 REGULATIONS: Elections Supervisor tells voters what to expect.

(See the statistics of voting in Florida below.)


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