Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott won a second term representing Florida in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.
“Florida is the center of the Republican Party of this country,” Scott said on the stage celebrating his victory. “Washington can learn a hell of a lot from what we’ve done right here in this great state.”
LIVE ELECTION RESULTS 2024: Complete results for president, Florida, Georgia races
His challenger, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell was seeking an upset victory that could’ve helped her party maintain its razor-thin control of the chamber.
Mucarsel-Powell sent the following statement following Scott’s victory.
“The results tonight were not what we had hoped for. I want to thank all the volunteers who knocked on doors, called, texted, worked polling sites, and put their heart into this campaign. I want to thank my family who have always been my biggest supporters, and who I couldn’t have done this without. So many believed what is possible in Florida when we stand up together, and while we lost this battle, our fight is just getting started. Today, millions of Floridians came out to say no más to Rick Scott, and to anyone who thinks this Latina is giving up on Florida, you haven’t been paying attention,” she wrote.
Scott, a former Florida governor, easily defeated two challengers in the Republican primary, while former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell emerged from a four-way Democratic primary. Joining them on the November ballot will be Libertarian Feena Bonoan, and two other candidates running without party affiliation, Ben Everidge and Tuan “TQ” Nguyen.
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Scott hopes to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down as the GOP leader. He addressed that push in his post-election comments.
“So two years ago, I challenged Mitch McConnell because I know there has to be a change,” he said. “We have a great Republican party all across the country. We need a Republican party in D.C. We need a Republican Party to start solving the problems of this country. And we have a significant number of problems.”
A win for him also reaffirmed the strength of the Republican Party in the state despite ballot measures on abortion rights and recreational marijuana legalization that Democrats hoped would drive up turnout. Both of those measures failed.
This was projected to be one of the tightest races of this election, with many polls showing Scott leading narrowly over Mucarsel-Powell.
Scott, one of the richest members of Congress, pumped millions of dollars of his own money into the race, as he has with his previous three elections. Far outspent, and with little money coming in from national Democrats until the last few weeks of the race, Murcarsel-Powell struggled to gain attention.
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Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
Mucarsel-Powell ran two years after Democrats lost all five statewide seats on the ballot in Republican landslides. She was elected to represent a Miami district in 2018 and was the first Ecuadorian American and South American-born congressional member. She lost her reelection to U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez in 2020.
She was the only Latina running for a U.S. Senate seat.
Mucarsel-Powell’s top three issues included expanding and protecting economic opportunities, protecting reproductive freedoms, and preserving Social Security and Medicare.
Rick Scott
Scott served two terms as governor, winning each with less than 50% of the vote. In 2018, he defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in a race decided by 0.2 percentage points. But Florida politics changed. The last time Scott was on the ballot, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the state. Republicans now have a million-voter advantage.
He has focused his message on the economy and rising household prices during President Joe Biden’s administration. He also has spent months supporting former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, despite it taking him about a year after Trump announced his campaign to endorse him.
News4JAX sent a questionnaire to each U.S. Senate candidate asking about their background and their views on several issues. Scott didn’t respond, but you can click here to read the full story with the candidates who responded.
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Mucarsel-Powell will host an election night party in Miami.
Meanwhile, Scott hosted a couple of rallies, including in Jacksonville, Tuesday morning ahead of his election night party at the Hyatt Regency in Bonita Springs, where he is expected to speak after the race is called.