PINECREST, Fla. – Florida will have one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races this fall. Four Democrats are running in the Aug. 20 primary to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Scott, and one former congresswoman currently has the edge.
Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is launching a Spanish-language radio blitz to reach the state’s Hispanic voter audience.
Mucarsel-Powell, from South Florida, launched a six-figure radio ad buy this week, her most expensive so far, taking on Scott in the conservative Hispanic community that has supported and endorsed him in Florida.
He’s spent almost six years as a senator and was Florida’s governor for eight before that.
Scott has the money to make sure he continues to be well known. Mucarsel-Powell acknowledges she has that work to do.
Responding to a question from Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg about her lack of name recognition in the state, Mucarsel-Powell said, “I have to tell you that in many ways, the fact that people in Florida know Rick Scott has actually hurt Rick Scott, because they know who he is.”
Polls show the powerful Senate incumbent has little to be concerned about against his Republican primary opponents John Columbus and Keith Gross by funding and by polling.
Mucarsel-Powell currently leads three Democratic opponents in the polls: AFL-CIO endorsed Navy veteran and IT executive Stanley Campbell, Army veteran Rod Joseph and former 1990s State Rep, Brian Rush.
“I don’t underestimate anything or anyone,” Mucarsel-Powell said.
Mucarsel-Powell and Scott could not be more different any number of national issues,
The two of them, though, if they should both be in this race together, will focus their messages about those issues very heavily on Florida’s growing Hispanic audience.