Boynton Beach: Florida Democrats made bold claims last week about their prospects in a state that has grown steadily more conservative in recent years. But so far they have not matched their words with the kind of money it will take to win there.
“Florida is in the game,” former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Miami said at the start of a bus tour to defend women’s reproductive rights in Boynton Beach. Mucarsel-Powell is the choice of Florida Democrats to challenge the incumbent Republican senator. Rick Scott For one of a handful management committee The Republican Party is claiming these seats in this election cycle.
According to data from AdImpact, which tracks ad spending by political campaigns and their surrogates, Republicans have outspent Democrats in Florida’s U.S. Senate election by a nearly 4-to-1 margin, $12.7 million to $3.2 million, as of Sept. 11. That gap is expected to grow during the general election, based on ad spots currently reserved.
The dynamics of the Senate race mirror what happened in the presidential race in that state, where the top candidates of both parties were neck and neck. Vice President Kamala Harris did not attend the launch of the bus tour and has not visited Florida as a candidate since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the presidential race against Republican former President Donald Trump.
Republicans’ massive spending power may help explain why Scott scoffs at Democrats’ claims that Florida is competitive.
“They are so out of touch with what Florida voters believe that they have no chance of winning Florida,” he said in an interview last week. “They have no chance of beating Trump, and they have no chance of beating me.”
Mucarsel-Powell says her side is more in touch with voters on issues like reproductive rights. She says ballot amendments on both abortion rights and legalizing marijuana would help Democrats turn out voters. She also said the switch from Biden to Harris has given Florida Democrats new momentum.
“This is momentum that has been building for quite some time, and his announcement was just a glimpse of the momentum and energy that’s been building in the state of Florida,” Mucarsel-Powell said in an interview.
A national AP-NORC poll conducted in July showed that 8 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Harris as the party’s nominee for president, while in March, about 4 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Biden as the nominee.
But Mucarsel-Powell’s task is still tough. Although some polls show Scott leading the Senate race by a slim margin, national Democrats have yet to invest heavily in Florida’s expensive media markets. Harris, who has proven to be a prolific fundraiser since becoming the Democratic nominee, recently allocated $25 million of her own campaign funds to help down-ballot Democrats in November — only $10 million of which went to U.S. Senate candidates. Harris’ campaign did not respond to questions about how those funds were being allocated.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it has spent money on staffing and digital advertising in the race, but did not say how much. In a statement, it did not elaborate on further spending plans, but said: “Scott’s unpopularity and the strength of Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign have made Florida one of Senate Democrats’ top offensive opportunities.”
Scott, who is eyeing a Senate leadership position if he wins, said he would welcome a major effort from national Democrats.
“I hope they spend a lot of money and waste it, because they have no chance of winning the Senate in Florida,” he said.
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said national Democrats showed their support by starting their bus tour in Florida and sending campaign representatives there to support Democratic candidates. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is in a strong enough position in her own reelection effort to work on behalf of other Democrats across the country, was one of several Democrats to join Mucarsel-Powell at the start of the bus tour.
“They could have started anywhere else in the country. They started in Palm Beach County, in Donald Trump’s backyard,” Fried said. “That shows how important Florida is, and they’re going to continue to keep an eye on what’s happening on the ground, send delegates here and make sure we stay in the game until November.”
About 150 people attended the bus tour programme.
Fried acknowledged Democrats have spent a lot on advertising in Florida, but he said they are putting their energy into grassroots campaigning. He said 40,000 new volunteers signed up since Harris entered the election and are doing everything they can to reach Florida voters by knocking on doors and by phone.
Florida’s ballot this year looks different than it did two years ago, with a U.S. senator saying they would “elect a person who is working against each other.” marco rubio and the governor Ron DeSantis At the top of the ticket was Florida. The governor hoped to ride a wave of momentum from his landslide 19-point win to rise to national prominence, but he was unable to loosen Trump’s grip on the Republican Party nationally.
Trump, now a Florida resident, defeated Biden in Florida by 3.3 percentage points in 2020, further diminishing its status as a swing state.
Republican political strategist Brian Ballard, who was a top fundraiser for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, said the lackluster spending effort by Democrats will make it difficult for Mucarsel-Powell to introduce herself to people across the state who don’t recognize her — unlike Scott, who was Florida’s governor from 2010 to 2018 and has since served in the Senate.
Ballard said a reduction in spending by the national party was “usually a sign of an unsuccessful campaign.”
“Florida is not in the game,” Ballard said. “I expect the Democrats to spend a lot of money in the presidential race in Florida. It won’t make a difference. If he relies on spending from Democrats further up the ticket, he’s relying on fool’s gold.”
The Florida contest hasn’t drawn much attention from national Democrats, who are trying to capture far more Senate seats than Republicans this year. Instead, they’ve focused most of their energy and resources on protecting the seats they already hold, including in red states like Ohio and Montana. Still, the Florida U.S. Senate race was much closer than it was in late July, just before the Florida Senate primary, according to a survey of Florida voters by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab.
Scott said in the interview that he was “not taking any risks” by taking his race lightly. And yet he has spent some of his time campaigning for other Republicans, including traveling last week across state borders to battleground Georgia for a town hall in Braselton, northeast of Atlanta.
“It’s a team sport,” Scott said of his efforts on behalf of other Republican candidates.
Tiffany LanierLanier, 36, participated in the bus tour in Boynton Beach Tuesday morning. Lanier, a Lake Worth civic engagement public speaker, said although Biden ran on a similar platform as Harris, she thinks Harris’s positions and emphasis on abortion rights really energize people and motivate them to turn out to vote.
“I think it was like in my dreams that Florida would be on the winning side this November,” Lanier said. “I know we’re very close in the polls, but I see there’s an energetic shift. And so, I see a lot of potential here.”
“Florida is in the game,” former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Miami said at the start of a bus tour to defend women’s reproductive rights in Boynton Beach. Mucarsel-Powell is the choice of Florida Democrats to challenge the incumbent Republican senator. Rick Scott For one of a handful management committee The Republican Party is claiming these seats in this election cycle.
According to data from AdImpact, which tracks ad spending by political campaigns and their surrogates, Republicans have outspent Democrats in Florida’s U.S. Senate election by a nearly 4-to-1 margin, $12.7 million to $3.2 million, as of Sept. 11. That gap is expected to grow during the general election, based on ad spots currently reserved.
The dynamics of the Senate race mirror what happened in the presidential race in that state, where the top candidates of both parties were neck and neck. Vice President Kamala Harris did not attend the launch of the bus tour and has not visited Florida as a candidate since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the presidential race against Republican former President Donald Trump.
Republicans’ massive spending power may help explain why Scott scoffs at Democrats’ claims that Florida is competitive.
“They are so out of touch with what Florida voters believe that they have no chance of winning Florida,” he said in an interview last week. “They have no chance of beating Trump, and they have no chance of beating me.”
Mucarsel-Powell says her side is more in touch with voters on issues like reproductive rights. She says ballot amendments on both abortion rights and legalizing marijuana would help Democrats turn out voters. She also said the switch from Biden to Harris has given Florida Democrats new momentum.
“This is momentum that has been building for quite some time, and his announcement was just a glimpse of the momentum and energy that’s been building in the state of Florida,” Mucarsel-Powell said in an interview.
A national AP-NORC poll conducted in July showed that 8 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Harris as the party’s nominee for president, while in March, about 4 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Biden as the nominee.
But Mucarsel-Powell’s task is still tough. Although some polls show Scott leading the Senate race by a slim margin, national Democrats have yet to invest heavily in Florida’s expensive media markets. Harris, who has proven to be a prolific fundraiser since becoming the Democratic nominee, recently allocated $25 million of her own campaign funds to help down-ballot Democrats in November — only $10 million of which went to U.S. Senate candidates. Harris’ campaign did not respond to questions about how those funds were being allocated.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it has spent money on staffing and digital advertising in the race, but did not say how much. In a statement, it did not elaborate on further spending plans, but said: “Scott’s unpopularity and the strength of Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign have made Florida one of Senate Democrats’ top offensive opportunities.”
Scott, who is eyeing a Senate leadership position if he wins, said he would welcome a major effort from national Democrats.
“I hope they spend a lot of money and waste it, because they have no chance of winning the Senate in Florida,” he said.
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said national Democrats showed their support by starting their bus tour in Florida and sending campaign representatives there to support Democratic candidates. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is in a strong enough position in her own reelection effort to work on behalf of other Democrats across the country, was one of several Democrats to join Mucarsel-Powell at the start of the bus tour.
“They could have started anywhere else in the country. They started in Palm Beach County, in Donald Trump’s backyard,” Fried said. “That shows how important Florida is, and they’re going to continue to keep an eye on what’s happening on the ground, send delegates here and make sure we stay in the game until November.”
About 150 people attended the bus tour programme.
Fried acknowledged Democrats have spent a lot on advertising in Florida, but he said they are putting their energy into grassroots campaigning. He said 40,000 new volunteers signed up since Harris entered the election and are doing everything they can to reach Florida voters by knocking on doors and by phone.
Florida’s ballot this year looks different than it did two years ago, with a U.S. senator saying they would “elect a person who is working against each other.” marco rubio and the governor Ron DeSantis At the top of the ticket was Florida. The governor hoped to ride a wave of momentum from his landslide 19-point win to rise to national prominence, but he was unable to loosen Trump’s grip on the Republican Party nationally.
Trump, now a Florida resident, defeated Biden in Florida by 3.3 percentage points in 2020, further diminishing its status as a swing state.
Republican political strategist Brian Ballard, who was a top fundraiser for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, said the lackluster spending effort by Democrats will make it difficult for Mucarsel-Powell to introduce herself to people across the state who don’t recognize her — unlike Scott, who was Florida’s governor from 2010 to 2018 and has since served in the Senate.
Ballard said a reduction in spending by the national party was “usually a sign of an unsuccessful campaign.”
“Florida is not in the game,” Ballard said. “I expect the Democrats to spend a lot of money in the presidential race in Florida. It won’t make a difference. If he relies on spending from Democrats further up the ticket, he’s relying on fool’s gold.”
The Florida contest hasn’t drawn much attention from national Democrats, who are trying to capture far more Senate seats than Republicans this year. Instead, they’ve focused most of their energy and resources on protecting the seats they already hold, including in red states like Ohio and Montana. Still, the Florida U.S. Senate race was much closer than it was in late July, just before the Florida Senate primary, according to a survey of Florida voters by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab.
Scott said in the interview that he was “not taking any risks” by taking his race lightly. And yet he has spent some of his time campaigning for other Republicans, including traveling last week across state borders to battleground Georgia for a town hall in Braselton, northeast of Atlanta.
“It’s a team sport,” Scott said of his efforts on behalf of other Republican candidates.
Tiffany LanierLanier, 36, participated in the bus tour in Boynton Beach Tuesday morning. Lanier, a Lake Worth civic engagement public speaker, said although Biden ran on a similar platform as Harris, she thinks Harris’s positions and emphasis on abortion rights really energize people and motivate them to turn out to vote.
“I think it was like in my dreams that Florida would be on the winning side this November,” Lanier said. “I know we’re very close in the polls, but I see there’s an energetic shift. And so, I see a lot of potential here.”
