Democrat Phil Ehr drops out of U.S. Senate race, announces challenge to Gimenez

To topple a two-term congressman and former Miami-Dade County mayor, Democrats may turn to a candidate from the Florida Panhandle who speaks only a little Spanish.

On Wednesday, Democrat Phil Ehr, a 26-year U.S. Navy veteran, ended his campaign for U.S. Senate and announced that he would instead launch a campaign to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez for his South Florida House seat.

Joined in front of the Cuban Memorial at Tamiami Park by former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who lost to Gimenez in 2020 and is now running for Senate, Ehr railed against what he described as the recent chaos in Washington and abroad. Pointing to a prolonged fight among Republicans over the House speakership, a coming government-funding deadline and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, he argued that Gimenez had failed to provide steady leadership in Congress.

“Carlos Gimenez is missing in action,” Ehr said. “Carlos Gimenez is not providing leadership nor looking after people.”

Gimenez represents Florida’s 28th congressional district, which spans from southern Miami-Dade County to Key West. More than two-thirds of the people living in the district are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Ehr previously mounted an unsuccessful bid in 2020 to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who represents a Florida Panhandle district more than 600 miles away from Miami. He launched a campaign for Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s seat earlier this year. Members of Congress aren’t required to live in the district they represent, but Ehr told the Miami Herald that he’s “in the process of moving” his residence from Pensacola to either Miami or the Keys.

His decision to drop out of the U.S. Senate race in favor of a House campaign effectively clears the way for Mucarsel-Powell to seek the Democratic nomination to take on Scott in 2024 without much of a primary fight. While she entered the Senate contest in August as the clear favorite, Ehr’s candidacy raised the potential for a potentially bitter primary season.

Ehr is the first notable Democrat to launch a challenge to Gimenez. Only one other Democrat, Marcos Reyes, has filed paperwork to run for the seat.

Florida’s 28th congressional district was previously seen as a key battleground for both parties. Mucarsel-Powell ousted Republican former U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbello from the seat in 2018 before losing to Gimenez two years later.

But redistricting and a broader GOP shift in Florida has turned the district into more reliably Republic territory. Last year, Gimenez won reelection by a staggering 27-point margin. In a statement to the Herald, Gimenez’s campaign said that the congressman “looks forward to continuing to represent the people of Miami Dade and the Florida Keys.”

It’s unclear how much support Ehr will get from national groups, like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Asked on Wednesday about whether he had received any reassurances or commitments from national organizations, Ehr said he had only been promised that the DCCC would remain impartial in the primary.

“I’ve talked to the DCCC and there’s not any commitments made except that they’re going to treat this race fairly,” he said, but added that the district is still “winnable” for Democrats. A spokesperson for the DCCC declined to comment on this story.

Mucarsel-Powell also demurred when asked about national support for her Senate bid, saying that her goal “is not to depend on anyone but my campaign to make sure I have the resources” to win.

“I’m going to make it impossible for national groups to not invest in this state,” she said.