Still photo from new Debbie Mucarsel-Powell/DSCC ad
There are just three weeks to go before Election Day, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s window to make her case that Floridians should vote for her and oust Rick Scott in the battle for U.S. Senate is quickly closing.
In an attempt to prop it open, the Mucarsel-Powell campaign teamed with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) to release a new 30-second ad on Tuesday that depicts Scott as a real-live snake.
“Florida’s biggest snake isn’t in the Everglades, he’s in the Senate: Rick Scott,” Mucarsel-Powell says to start off the ad. “He stole money from seniors in the biggest Medicare fraud ever. Then Scott slid into the Senate, where he wrote the plan to end Social Security, raise your taxes, and ban abortion. Rick Scott’s a slippery politician who’s been ripping you off.”
The ad debuts as Mucarsel-Powell takes to the road this week. She is scheduled to appear in St. Petersburg on Tuesday to discuss the property insurance crisis in Florida.
According to a memo published by Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign manager Ben Waldon, “Public opinion research conducted by Global Strategy Group from October 2-6 shows that Mucarsel–Powell’s advertisements are breaking through. When asked to describe any negative things they’re heard or seen about Rick Scott, Florida voters overwhelmingly mentioned the terms ‘Social Security,’ ‘Medicare,’ and ‘abortion.’”
Meanwhile, the Scott campaign released a new ad on Monday featuring sheriffs across Florida praising him for helping them prepare for and recover from hurricanes Helene and Milton. Sheriffs from 60 of the state’s 67 counties have endorsed the Naples Republican.
Scott, the former two-term Florida governor who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, has never won a race by more than 1.2 percentage points, but during this campaign he has held a consistent lead over Mucarsel-Powell, a former one-time South Florida Democratic Rep. from 2019-2021.
Scott maintains an average lead over Mucarsel-Powell of 4.5 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics. The most recent survey released on Monday by Mason-Dixon Polling for NBC6 in Miami and Telemundo shows Scott up over Mucarsel-Powell, 48%-41%.