Former Florida Governor and incumbent Sen. Rick Scott has won his reelection bid, clearly beating Democratic challenger and former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in what was one of the most closely-watched Senate races in the country that centered the economy, immigration and reproductive rights.
Former president Donald Trump also took the Sunshine State by a similar margin, getting almost 56% of the vote compared to Kamala Harris' 43% and taking the state's 30 electoral votes.
With 87% of the votes tallied, Scott was winning by a two-digit margin, a much larger gap than expected. The Republican got over 55% of the support compared to Mucarsel-Powell's 43%. While Scott was expected to keep his seat, he did so by a larger margin than projected by the most recent polls.
The last one before the election, conducted by Research Co. between November 2 and 3 among 450 likely voters, showed the incumbent ahead by seven percentage points, getting 50% of the support compared to the Democrat's 43%.
Scott was first elected to the Senate in 2018, defeating incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson by about 10,000 votes out of the more than 8 million cast. He also served two terms as governor, winning both times with less than 50% of the vote.
While in Washington, Scott says he's worked to give money back to taxpayers, stop what he's called "reckless" government spending, and fight inflation. He says he's taking action to protect Social Security and Medicare, defying Mucarsel-Powell's claims that he campaigned to end the federal programs, NBC6 Miami reports.
"Are we going down the path of socialism or down the path of opportunity? It's really as simple as that," Scott told NBC6 anchor Jackie Nespral. "Do you want the government to dictate your life, decide all these things for you, and it costs you money, takes away opportunity? Or do you want to have freedom, which would take responsibility and does not mean you have a perfect outcome?"
Mucarsel-Powell, a former U.S. Representative for Florida's 26th Congressional District from 2019 to 2021, campaigned on lowering costs and being a champion for healthcare and environmental protections. She describes herself as a defender of women's reproductive rights and immigrants, as well as a champion for Social Security and Medicare.
Had she won her bid, Mucarsel-Powell would have become the first Latina from the Sunshine State to serve in the U.S. Senate. She is the first South American-born member of Congress and the first Latina to run on a major party's Senate ticket in Florida.
During an interview with The Latin Times back in October, she warned voters against another Scott term in Congress.
"He wants to eliminate Medicare and Social Security. He wants to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, which more than 4 million people here get health care through the ACA. He will co-sponsor and push for a national abortion ban," Mucarsel-Powell said. "He will not work in a bipartisan fashion the way that I have to make sure that we bring resources and funding to small businesses, to entrepreneurship, to climate resiliency."
Throughout the campaign cycle, Mucarsel-Powell came close to Scott, however, it was not enough to upset an incumbent GOP Senator in a state that has become a Republican stronghold over recent election cycles.
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