Since the 2020 elections, Florida has solidified itself as a conservative hub. In 2022, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won his reelection bid by a 19-point margin, reddening even traditionally blue counties. Now, Democrats are trying to fight back and turn Florida into the purple, swing state it once was. That strategy starts with winning back a seat in the Senate.
Healthcare, immigration and preserving democracy. Those are among Debbie Mucarsel-Powell's top priorities as she seeks to unseat former Governor and incumbent GOP Senator Rick Scott. Despite not enjoying the same statewide name recognition as her opponent, nor the extensive wealth Scott has to self-fund his campaign, Mucarsel-Powell has made impressive inroads with Florida voters, making this race one of the most closely watched contests in the 2024 election.
Mucarsel-Powell is a former U.S. Representative who immigrated from Ecuador to the U.S. as a 14-year-old. She represented Florida's 26th congressional district from 2019 to 2021, advocating for expanded 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.
Scott, on the other hand, is vying for a second term in Congress after being elected to the Senate in 2018. He is the wealthiest person in Congress, having an estimated net worth of over $250 million as of 2018, according to Open Secrets. Scott runs on a "Rescue America" plan, a 12-point platform to curb what he calls "woke" progressive policies. Democrats have accused Scott of intending to cut Medicare and Social Security.
If the Democratic challenger defeats Scott in November, she would become the first Latina from the Sunshine State to serve in the U.S. Senate. That role would add to a long list of already-notable achievements for the Ecuadorian-American, which include becoming the first South American-born member of Congress and the first Latina to run on a major party's Senate ticket in Florida.
That imagery would stand in stark contrast to Scott, a staunch Trump-ally who, not only denied 2020 election results, but also has pushed the great replacement theory, which claims there is a plan to bring nonwhite immigrants into the United States and other Western countries to replace white voters to achieve a political agenda. In a recent interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, the Senator argued Democrats have an "open border" and bring Latino to the U.S., in order to increase their votes during elections.
Mucarsel-Powell is currently trailing behind Scott in the polls, with a recent Emerson College/The Hill survey placing the Republican with 53% support, compared to her 47%.
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, and with tensions running at an all-time high, the Democratic challenger sat down with The Latin Times as she made a last push to court Latino voters. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Latin Times: We talked around a week before your race's primaries and you said were feeling "optimistic because we have been building momentum in this campaign for the past year." With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, and with polls still showing a tight race, have those feelings changed at all? What are your plans for these final two weeks of campaigning?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell: It's funny that you remind me of that feeling, because it seems like a year ago, but it was really just what, three months ago, two months ago? I feel similar to what I was feeling before the primary. It's interesting because right before the primary, we had been focusing on making sure that I was in front of our voters as much as possible all over the state, and we didn't really have a whole lot of data or polling. I relied a lot on the energy that we were seeing on the ground. You see polls, you listen to some of the political analysts, and then you're on the ground, and you know what you feel. And I have not seen the amount of energy on the ground, the way that I'm seeing it right now, since I think 2016, even before that. I have to be honest with you, and it's giving me a lot of optimism. For us right now, it's about being in front of our people across the state. I am doing a tour all next week. I'm going to be in Tampa and Orlando, in the next couple of days, I'm going to be all over. I'm going to be in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville, I mean, as much as possible, continuing to be in front of our voters, so that they know that they have a choice. And when I say voters, I mean everyone. I mean Republicans, Democrats, independents, bringing everybody together, showing them and reminding them that they have the power actually, to take back the state and to take it back in the right direction, someone that's going to work for them, not someone like Rick Scott, who's going to be using that seat for his own self gain. These races are always close, and that's why every vote matters, and that's what I'm focusing on. I'm still feeling cautiously optimistic.
LT: Your "Latinidad" has been an integral part of your campaign. Is this something you think resonates with the Latino community in Florida? Do you have a message for Latino men who may be supporting Trump and Republicans?
DMP: For us and for someone like myself and for Latino men, for Latino women, it's always been about family. It's always been about our children, about doing everything we can to work to give them a better life. That's why my mom brought me here. It's what I'm doing for my children. It's central to everything that I do, and why I think I want them to think of all the women in their life and how hard we all work for our children, for our husbands, for our families, for our communities. Many of us are caretakers. We take care of our parents also. My mom lives with me, and we put all that aside politics is high so that we can make things happen for our families. And I guess that's what I would say, that don't get caught up in the political division and the rhetoric and the misinformation in the attacks that so many times are just false. They're trying to distract you. Think of your mothers Latino men. Think of your daughters. Think of the incredible women in your life that have made your life so much better and so much stronger. I have two daughters. I have a son, and I want all three of them to have the same opportunities, to have the same rights to be whoever they want to be in this country, to live in a safe community, to get a good paying job when they're ready to work after they finish school. That's what Latino men want. That's what we all want. That's what I want to do when we get to the Senate, to give those opportunities to our children here in the state of Florida.
LT: Economy is a priority for voters this cycle, with some expressing the high cost of living and affordability as a concern. Some aspects of the economy have improved throughout this cycle, like inflation and unemployment continuing to go down. If you are elected, how would you continue building on this momentum? And how are you communicating your message considering a great deal of voters think they were better off four years ago?
DMP: We need to remember that a lot of what's happening with the high cost of living in Florida is because of the failed policies that started under Rick Scott when he was governor and have now continued under the state legislature. We have the property insurance rate crisis is really pricing people out of their homes. It's sending seniors to return to work after they've been enjoying retirement because they can't afford to pay for their property insurance bill or their home or their rent. And that's what I want them to understand, that we have higher inflation here because of those failed policies. Rick Scott, of course, gave $50 million from the public option from citizens, gave it to private insurance companies that came to the market, one of them Heritage, and they have refused to pay claims, and I think that's really important for them to understand the difference.
When I get to the Senate, I'm going to work on passing a bill that would reduce property insurance rates by 25% while incentivizing companies, businesses to come to Florida for solar manufacturing, trade, commerce. We are still one of the most important states that have trade agreements with Canada, with Latin America. Let's use all of those opportunities to bring good jobs, good paying jobs. People here are still making like $10 an hour. No one can live with a $10 an hour job. People here still don't have paid family leave. People here still don't have the means to be able to get health insurance. Let's protect the Affordable Care Act. Let's make sure that we continue to reduce the price of medicine. And at the same time, let's put money in people's pockets. When you're doing well, when you have a good paying job, things are a little easier for everyone, and I want people to thrive in the state of Florida.
LT: Immigration is another top issue in your race and nationally. The Biden administration has adopted a tough approach on the matter, and if she wins, Vice President Harris promises to continue cracking down on unauthorized border crossings. Do you agree with the policies they've implemented?
DMP: So here's where my take on all of this may be different, and the media just does not cover it the way that it should be covered. First of all, yes, we have to protect our border. Absolutely. I am in full agreement. Rick Scott voted against border security. We need to fund and support our customs and border patrol, 100%. But at the same time, we need someone in the Senate, someone at the federal level, like myself, who understands that we have major, major issues that are affecting the national security of this country because of what's going on with the regimes in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Nicaragua; dictatorships that are choking people of any economic, social and political freedom. That's why people are fleeing. And we need to figure out a way that a lot of the people that have been coming here can remain in their country. And no one's talking about that.
So when I look at the border issue, when I look at the immigration issue, it's a much larger, more complex issue than just sending money to the border or having a strong stance on immigration. No, we need to continue to provide legal pathways for people that come here to work and Republican businessmen here in owners, men and women have talked to me about this. We have an agricultural sector that relies on migrant workers. We have a hospitality sector that relies on migrant workers. They want people that can have work visas, that are vetted properly and can come here legally to work, and a lot of these workers actually want to come work during the season and then go back to their home countries. There's a lot of things that we can do, but we need to stop politicizing and demonizing an entire group of people for political points. It's not working.
We also need to also celebrate our immigrant communities here in South Florida that have made South Florida what it is today. We have Venezuelans, Colombians, Cubans who are business owners who are employing Americans. So we need to stop that, and we need to come together and yes, protect the safety of our communities, but also celebrate the immigrants that have made this country what it is today. And why are we forgetting that?
LT: Another big election this year in the Americas happened in Venezuela. After the fraudulent results came out, you met with both Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado to call for free and fair elections. Why was this important for you? Do you think there's any parallels between the Venezuelan elections and "the big lie" being spread by people like Rick Scott?
DMP: The issue of Venezuela has been very close to my heart. I have family and friends in Venezuela. I've been to Venezuela many times, and I've seen the incredible courage of Maria Corina, Edmundo, the people of Venezuela who lifted up their voices to elect Edmundo Gonzalez and that stood up with courage against the narco-regime, the Nicolas Maduro regime that have killed and imprisoned Venezuelans for just standing up. And I've been saying this for a while, that what happens in Venezuela it's not only a matter of democracy and freedom for Venezuelans, it's also a matter of democracy and freedom for us here, and what happens there affects the entire hemisphere. It affected Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico. We need to find ways to bring it together and build a coalition that will put ultimate pressure on that regime. But when you have Nicolas Maduro steal an election and basically lie to the people of Venezuela, and we all saw what happened on the 28th of July, Edmundo Gonzalez won. And then you hear extreme Republicans like Rick Scott, first of all, not certifying the 2020 election, and then saying that they're not sure that they're going to accept the results of this election, it's exactly what happens in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Russia, by the way. And so if you don't want communism in America, then you need to vote for the people that are going to protect a free and fair election, and it's not Rick Scott.
LT: There are many studies that indicate a rightward shift among a certain group of Latinos, such as Cubans and Venezuelans in Miami, for instance. Is this a concern for you? How would you combat this?
DMP: It's meeting them, one on one, having conversations, being present, which Rick Scott has not, by the way. I've accepted three debates, he's nowhere to be seen. He doesn't want to face the voters of Florida. He picks and chooses the small groups that he's been in front of, but not the entire state. I have been talking to voters and people living in the state, whether they're Republicans, democrats or independents, whether they're Latino or not, whether they're Cuban or Venezuelans, it doesn't matter. We are all living here in the state, and we all want the same things for our families. And just today, I had a conversation with two Republican Latino voters, one from Argentina and the other one was from Venezuela. Actually, after our conversation, they said, "you just turned our votes." They just need to hear from us. And once they do and they understand where I stand in a lot of these issues and what I want to do, they support me, because it's the same things that they want for their families and and for the people in their home countries.
LT: Rick Scott undeniably has a strong name recognition in Florida and an incumbency advantage. What would another Rick Scott term mean for Florida?
DMP: 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 their health care through the ACA. He will co sponsor and push for a national abortion ban. 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. Those are really important issues for the state of Florida. He actually will support deporting millions and millions of immigrants that have been living in the state for decades. These are people that have been living here that want a legal pathway to remain here, Dreamers. I want us to all think of our Dreamers who are right now, teachers in our schools, who have been waiting for years for some sort of legal pathway for them to be able to continue to live here legally. This is who he is, and he's been using the government just to make money for himself. It's for power and self gain.
If I get to the Senate, for me, it's always going to be about serving. Serving the people of Florida, protecting access to health care, expanding Medicare coverage, protecting Obamacare, lowering prescription drug prices. More importantly, passing a bill to lower property insurance rates, bringing good paying jobs. Working across the aisle with Republicans, I'm ready to work with Senator Marco Rubio on all these issues. I know he cares about Latin America. I would love to sit down with him and have that conversation. That's what leadership is about. You need to put partisan politics aside. Work with whoever you can work with to make things better for the people that you're representing.
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