News Service of Florida — Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott won his fourth statewide election Tuesday, as U.S. House incumbents from both parties held their seats in what continues to become a more solidly Republican state.
In the presidential race in Florida, former President Donald Trump topped Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 13 percentage points in unofficial results as of about 9:30 p.m. Scott was defeating Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by more than 12 percentage points.
Both of them had narrow winning margins in Osceola County, which traditionally votes toward Democratic candidates for these state and nation-wide races.
“This is a team win. We won, they lost,” Scott said at his victory party at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs.
Scott, who was elected twice as governor before getting elected to the Senate in 2018, also pointed to his run for Senate leadership next week.
“We needed a Republican Party to start solving the problems of this country, and we have a significant number of problems,” Scott said. “Florida is a center of the Republican Party of this country. Washington can learn a hell of a lot from what we've done right here in this great state.”
In a news release, Trump campaign senior advisers Danielle Alvarez and Brian Hughes said, “Florida voters cemented what we already knew: Florida is TRUMP Country.
Of the 26 Florida members of the U.S. House up for re-election on Tuesday, all 26 won, with Republicans maintaining a 20-8 advantage over Democrats.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Darren Soto — who represents Osceola County — Maxwell Frost, Kathy Castor, Lois Frankel, Jared Moskowitz, Frederica Wilson and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were also re-elected.
The large margins of victory for Trump and Scott dispelled repeated assertions by Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried that Florida remained “in play.”
Nationally, Florida wasn’t viewed as being competitive. The outlook was reflected in data compiled by the Alexandria, Va.-based ad-tracking firm AdImpact, which showed advertising in Florida on the presidential campaign dropped from $371 million in 2020 to about $4 million this year.
Floridians continued to be inundated by political messaging, but the focus shifted to down-ballot races and a handful of other issues, such as a pair of proposed constitutional amendments on abortion and recreational marijuana.
Mucarsel-Powell, a former congresswoman from Miami, was unable to make significant headway against Scott. The incumbent, who turned his attention in the final weeks to recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, didn’t accept a debate with Mucarsel-Powell, who he painted as a “radical socialist” tied during her single term in Washington, D.C. to former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Ecuadorian-born Mucarsel-Powell campaigned against rising housing costs and Florida’s efforts to limit access to abortions, while also attacking Scott over a 2022 plan to cut Social Security and Medicare coverage.
A former health-care executive, Scott spent at least $24.5 million of his own money on the latest campaign, which he hopes will position him to become the party leader in the Senate.
Six years ago, Scott spent about $64 million in his first successful Senate campaign. His two gubernatorial wins cost Scott about $88 million from his personal accounts.
