by Andrew Powell
If recent polls and fundraising totals are to be believed, Florida incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott will likely keep his seat in the GOP column.
Scott is leading in both the polls and fundraising efforts against his Democrat challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell ahead of the general election on Nov. 5.
According to the Federal Election Commission website, Scott has raised almost $30 million between 2019 and 2024 and ranks 13th out of all U.S. Senate candidates running for office in 2024.
In total, Scott has spent over $26 million, most of it being on operating expenditures. Around $6.7 million was contributed to Scott’s campaign by individuals, while $7.8 million came from authorized committees. Around $5 million of the total was raised between 2023 and 2024.
Mucarsel-Powell raised $11.8 million between 2023 and 2024 alone, most of it from individual contributions. In 2018, She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but lost her reelection bid in 2020.
According to the Cook Political Report, Scott’s seat was listed in the likely Republican category, along with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Republicans could take back the Senate in this election cycle, as the GOP is defending 11 seats and Democrats will have 23 seats. Cook rates four of those seats in the tossup category and predicts a Republican flip for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.
According to several different polls listed on ABC News’ FiveThirtyEight, Scott was leading in the polls in some instances up to 15 percentage points over Mucarsel-Powell in May.
However, a June poll released by Florida Atlantic University shows Scott’s lead shrinking from an eight-point advantage to a two-point lead. Florida Atlantic University’s Mainstreet poll had Scott in the lead by 17 percentage points in April.
On X, Mucarsel-Powell said during an interview that Florida needs a senator who puts Florida families over politics.
“We have right now, the worst senator in the Senate, someone who oversaw the largest Medicaid fraud in the history of this country,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “He took $64 million…of that money to buy his Senate seat, and he could care less about the struggles that we’re facing here.”
Scott also took to X to point out what he called “reckless spending” and blamed the Democrats for the current state of the economy.
“A strong economy is the key to protecting the American Dream,” Scott posted on X. “Democrats’ reckless spending created the horrible nightmare of rising costs and soaring inflation, and it’s crushing families across America. I’m fighting like hell to stop it so EVERY American can live their dream.”
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Andrew Powell is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Debbie Mucarsel-Powell” by United States Congress. Photo “Rick Scott” by Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “US Congress” Bjoertvedt CC BY-SA 3.0.
