Incumbent Rick Scott remains favored to serve a second term in the U.S. Senate ahead of his challenger, one-term Congresswoman and associate dean of FIU’s medical school, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
But, Mucarsel-Powell has made an ambitious effort to garner the youth vote, which she hopes will help push her across the finish line.
In the last days of the race before Tuesday’s vote, she has toured college campuses across the state, including Florida International University. She has stressed addressing climate change, her championing of the ballot initiative, Amendment 4, which would overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban, and funding for education.
“Their top issues are the same issues that I want to work on once I get to Washington D.C.,” she said in an interview with Caplin News on Saturday.
Caplin News sent seven emails attempting to reach Scott’s campaign for his reflections on the final days of the race, but no answer was received.
Murcarsel-Powell, who has closely trailed Scott in recent polls, believes that the issue that may carry her to an upset in Florida is abortion.
Mucarsel-Powell and Scott have opposite views on the ballot initiative that would, if it wins on Tuesday, enshrine abortion rights up to the point of viability in the state constitution. The incumbent’s spokesperson told the Hill on Sept. 27 that he supports a 15-week ban with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.
This was said after he pledged his support for Florida’s six-week ban last year on X.
A significant turnout for women among early voters in Florida may suggest favorable results for Mucarsel-Powell and the initiative, which is polling under the 60% threshold needed to pass.
The Democratic candidate says young men, a demographic to whom the Republican Party has been increasingly trying to message, are also telling her they support the referendum.
“A lot of young men that I talk to on campuses, this is a really important issue [for them],” said Mucarsel-Powell. “Because it’s a fundamental civil right for a woman to be able to make that decision with her doctor free of government interference.”
Mucarsel-Powell has also referred to Scott’s 2022 11-point plan to Rescue America, which proposed shuttering the U.S. Department of Education.
“That would be devastating for the tens of thousands of students that are right now, studying in our universities,” she said. “So we need to make sure that we protect that funding, and that we continue to provide opportunities for students to have scholarships, including pell grants.”
Scott’s campaign has been centered around framing Mucarsel-Powell, who lived under a military dictatorship in Ecuador, as a socialist.
He told NBC 6 anchor Jackie Nespral Friday that voters this election will decide whether “we are going to go down the path of socialism or down the path of opportunity.”
“Do you want the government to dictate your life, decide all these things for you, and it costs you money, takes away opportunity?,” he asked. “Or do you want to have freedom, which would take responsibility and does not mean you have a perfect outcome?”
Mucarsel-Powell also criticized Scott for missing a key Senate vote on a continuing resolution that included disaster funding for programs like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Though FEMA has said it has enough resources to cover immediate needs, there is an expectation that it will face a shortfall if not funded by the end of the year, where it will have to abandon longer-term projects to prioritize “urgent needs.”
Scott has since signed a bipartisan letter that pushed Senate leaders to consider resuming session in October to “ensure we have enough time to enact [disaster] legislation before the end of the year,” and released legislation with other Republicans to fund the depleted Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program when Congress comes back in session.
“I’m reminding [students] that they have so much power in their vote,” said Mucarsel-Powell. “I want to make sure we protect opportunities for anyone regardless of who you are or where you come from.”
