Florida Senator Rick Scott's Democratic challenger has warned that she is fighting to help flip the Sunshine State in November.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former congresswoman who is now running for Scott's Senate seat, said that Florida turning blue is "happening" in response to apparent issues surrounding Scott's reelection campaign.
Mucarsel-Powell was responding to reports that Scott is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money on his reelection campaign. Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Scott recently "dumped" another $725,000 of his own money into his campaign account. "Two days ago he put $31,996.67. Aug. 6 he put in $850,000," Sherman added.
The claims, which have not been verified by Newsweek, arrive after a USA TODAY/Suffolk/WSVN-TV Florida poll showed that Scott had a net favorable rating of minus 14 points.
The same poll also showed that Vice President Kamala Harris is within "striking distance" of Donald Trump in Florida. Trump still leads Harris by 5 points, but the margin is closer than previous surveys, suggesting the one-time swing state could be a more competitive race than previously thought in November's presidential election.
In a post discussing Scott's campaigning funding, entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy said: "Rick Scott had to loan his campaign money, and it is still the primary. I tried to tell y'all months ago Democrats are on the verge of flipping Florida and the Senate seat."
In reply, Mucarsel-Powell wrote: "It's happening! And I'm the Latina who's gonna get the job done."
Mucarsel-Powell, who made history in 2018 when she became the first Ecuadorian American and the first South American-born person elected to Congress, is the only Latina vying for a U.S. Senate seat in November.
Mucarsel-Powell also responded to Scott's recent poor favorable rating, where the 71-year-old was viewed favorably by 35 percent of 500 likely voters in Florida, with 49 percent showing disapproval.
"This is not the first poll that I've seen that Rick Scott is completely underwater. People know who he is across the state, and that's why they don't want to vote for him," she told Florida Phoenix.
In response, Scott's campaign spokesperson Will Hampson told Newsweek: "Every election Florida Democrats say Rick Scott is in trouble and every election they lose. Bring it on."
Scott, who only won his 2018 election against Bill Nelson by 0.2 percent, is still considered the favorite to win November's Senate race.
On Tuesday, a McLaughlin & Associates' poll of 800 likely voters in Florida showed Scott leading Mucarsel-Powell by 10 points [52 percent to 42 percent].
However, a July 30 survey from the University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) of 774 likely voters showed that Scott was just 4 points ahead of his Democratic rival.
"Scott has a history of winning razor thin statewide races in Florida, and in a state that has become significantly more red in the past six years, this could be another close race for Scott," Michael Binder, a professor of political science at the University of North Florida, said while sharing the results.
Both the McLaughlin & Associates and PORL surveys gave Trump a 7-point lead over Harris in Florida in a head-to-head matchup.
Discussing the USA TODAY/Suffolk/WSVN-TV Florida survey which showed Trump with a 5-point lead over the vice president, David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said: "I was surprised that Harris is within striking distance."
Paleologos added that Harris is "still the underdog, but she's a little bit closer than people might expect."
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more