MIAMI – With more polls showing Florida Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell closing in on Republican incumbent Sen. Rick Scott, the only Latina in the country to run for a Senate seat in 2024 says Scott’s claim she is a “socialist” is part of his “disinformation” campaign.
He is “lying,” she said, because he is “scared.”
Her comments came ahead of a 2 p.m. news conference by Scott to condemn, a news release states, “Biden, Harris and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s abandonment of freedom in Venezuela and Cuba.”
In recent weeks, both Democratic and Republican congressional leaders have hosted news conferences advocating for democracy in Venezuela and voicing support for opposition leaders in the wake of the country’s contested presidential election.
Mucarsel-Powell, who was the first South American-born congresswoman in U.S. history, addressed how she has been very vocal about supporting democracy in Venezuela and Cuba, as well as here at home.
“It is Rick Scott who right now has been siding with someone who says Venezuela is safer than the United States of America,” Mucarsel-Powell said Tuesday morning. “It is actually Rick Scott who can not confirm that he will accept the results of a free and fair election here in the United States, exactly what (socialist dictator Nicolas) Maduro is doing right now in Venezuela.”
Democrats seek broad coalition
Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign is working to connect Scott to Donald Trump as the Democratic Party messages to independents and what they call “disillusioned Republicans” tired of Trump’s “takeover” of the Republican Party.
“They want their party back,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried Tuesday morning.
Debate challenge
Mucarsel-Powell, who says her family is one of many exiles in Florida who support democracy, having escaped a socialist military dictatorship in Ecuador, also challenged the freshman senator to a debate in Spanish about Latin American policy during a morning Florida Democratic Party virtual news conference.
“Enough of the lies, Rick,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “Let’s have a debate in Spanish. Are you scared of doing that? Because the only person who is going to be advocating for freedom and democracy in Latin America is me, not you, who supports Russia.”
“I have friends who are still in Venezuela fighting for their freedom right now. I have had conversations with (Venezuelan opposition leader) Marina Corina Machado. I stood firm against Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba when I was at the Summit of the Americas.”
Scott deflected when asked about the debate challenge in a news conference Tuesday, where he was joined by “human rights activists, community leaders, and former political prisoners from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, who shared their personal experiences under these oppressive regimes, warned about the grave threat socialism poses to our country.”
“I campaign every day,” he said. “If she wants to talk about people doing something, she should call Harris and ask why she won’t do a press conference.”
He later claimed, incorrectly, that Mucarsel-Powell “hasn’t even recognized (opposition candidate Edmundo) Gonzalez (as) president-elect. She won’t even recognize him.”
She did, however, including in an an Aug. 2 post on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
This is the right call. Venezuela’s freedom must prevail. https://t.co/DvrtQ2bow5
— Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (@DebbieforFL) August 2, 2024
Local 10 News reporter Christina Vazquez pointed this out to Scott at his news conference.
“Oh, really? I haven’t seen it,” he said.
GOP advantage in Florida: More money, registered voters
Mucarsel-Powell said she is confident national investments in Florida’s Senate race to support her push to unseat Scott will come given the number of recent polls showing she has a chance to flip the seat.
While a new survey of registered voters in Florida finds the Senate race “competitive,” it also states that “only 18% have seen DM-P (Debbie Mucarsel-Powell) ads but 46% have seen Scott’s.”
The survey was conducted by Clean and Prosperous America PAC, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy group that campaigns for Democratic candidates.
Poll results:
A recent Florida Atlantic University poll found her trailing Scott by just four points.
In news releases, Scott peddles nicknames for Mucarsel-Powell, like “Debbie Downer.”
“That’s just typical of the Republican playbook ever since Donald Trump has become the standard-bearer of the party,” Sean Foreman, a political science professor at Barry University, told Local 10 News. “Call people names, belittle them.”
Foreman said while Scott might be “basically a 49% popularity guy,” winning statewide races by narrow margins, he has the math on his side. Republicans have more registered voters and a bigger war chest.
“In many ways, I think Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and her campaign have to watch out that they don’t get played by the national establishment who will say they are supporting them but aren’t really giving the resources or manpower to do so,” he said. “A lot more resources are needed for Democrats in Florida if they are going to be competitive in the presidential race and if they are going to try to win the Senate race.”