Former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to challenge Rick Scott in 2024 Senate race

Former Democratic Miami Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell announced Tuesday morning that she will challenge Republican Sen. Rick Scott in 2024.

Mucarsel-Powell is considered an underdog against Scott, who has won three close statewide elections by deploying millions of dollars he made as a health care executive. Democrats have won just one statewide election since 2012 – Nikki Fried’s successful bid to be Commissioner of Agriculture in 2018.

Mucarsel-Powell is a 52-year-old former dean of Florida International University’s School of Medicine and made health care the focus of her campaign announcement on social media – with a declaration of her candidacy on X and the unveiling of a campaign website.

In a video, Mucarsel-Powell attacked Scott on his support for limits to abortion access, threats to cut Social Security and Medicare, and his record as the head of a chain of hospitals.

“He wrote the plan that could take away the Social Security and Medicare you worked and paid for. And he’s gotten tens of millions of dollars richer, while so-called serving the people, but our costs for prescriptions, health insurance, homeowners insurance have all gone up,” said Mucarsel-Powell in the two-minute video.

“No mas,” said Mucarsel-Powell, who came to Florida as a 14-year-old Ecuadoran immigrant. “I’ve already fought guys like Rick Scott and beat them."

Scott fires back, calling challenger a 'radical socialist'

A year ago, Scott proposed a plan to sunset all federal legislation.

Democrats criticized the proposal and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed it, saying the Republican Party would “not have as a part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.”

Scott went on to clarify that the proposal did not apply to those two programs. He then launched an unsuccessful challenge to McConnell for the Senate leadership position.

The Mucarsel-Powell video also referenced Scott’s tenure as the CEO for the hospital chain Columbia/HCA, which was part of a Justice Department fraud investigation. 

Though no charges were brought against Scott, Columbia/HCA was required to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve whistle-blower lawsuits that alleged HCA systematically defrauded Medicare and Medicaid.

Scott left the company with a $300 million severance package.

The Scott campaign immediately responded to the Mucarsel-Powell challenge with a statement that called her a “radical socialist” and tied her to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Former Congresswoman Mucarsel-Powell is a radical socialist who voted 100% of the time with Nancy Pelosi during her short tenure in Congress, which is why the voters of South Florida booted her out of office the first chance they got,” said Priscilla Ivasco, a Scott campaigner spokeswoman.

Mucarsel-Powell was elected to the U.S. House in 2018 in a wave year for Democrats and became the first South American immigrant elected to congress.

She lost the seat two years later when Republican Carlos Gimenez rode former President Donald Trump’s coattails to victory.

Despite national Democrats lobbying her to challenge Gimenez in 2022, Mucarsel-Powell went to work to combat misinformation in Spanish-language media, which she said played a role in her defeat.

A Democratic field

Democrats have been looking for a candidate to challenge Scott.

Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, the House Democratic leader tweeted Monday night, hours before Mucarsel-Powell threw her hat in the ring, that she would not be a candidate for the Senate.

Instead, Driskell said she intends to stay in Tallahassee to hold the line against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda.

“After giving it a lot of thought, I have realized that my work in the FL House is not done yet. And when DeSantis loses the GOP primary & returns to focus where he can do more damage, we need to be ready. As Minority Leader, I will continue to lead in this fight,” tweeted Driskell.

Phil Ehr, a 26-year U.S. Navy veteran who ran against North Florida MAGA Congressman Matt Gaetz last year, announced on social media in July he is a candidate, but has yet to file the paperwork.

Three people have filed to run in the August Democratic Primary to face Scott in November 2024.

• Fort Lauderdale businessman Matt Boswell filed to run in July.

• Seminole County combat veteran Joseph Rod submitted paperwork in January.

• And Jason Williams of Vero Beach filed papers with the Secretary of State office to run last month.

None have yet filed campaign finance reports.

Scott is also being challenged in the primary by Melbourne lawyer Keith Gross, a political newcomer in Florida who ran for office previously in Georgia. He came out swinging in April, accusing Scott of "getting rich by hiding fraud and corruption."

Scott announced his reelection campaign earlier this year with a pledge to visit all 67 Florida counties.

His stump speech criticizes President Joe Biden, Democrats and their “reckless spending, open borders and woke socialists' policies.”

“If we continue down this path, the future of Florida and the country will be filled with high prices and woke socialism,” Scott tells voters.

Numbers not with Democrats

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination faces a monetary and numerical challenge in a bid to flip the seat to the Democratic column.

Republican registered voters outnumber Democrats by more than a half million. Voters registered as no-party affiliates or with a minor party outnumber Democrats in 21 of the state’s 67 counties.

Scott is a specialist in the strategic deployment of money he made as a hospital executive to win close elections.

He spent about $75 million of his own money to win his first election as governor in 2010 – a 1.2% victory margin over former CFO Alex Sink.

The week before the 2014 election, Scott dropped more than $12 million in an ad buy and defeated former Gov. Charlie Crist by 1%.

In 2018, Scott wrote a check for $63.6 million – more than three-quarters of the $85 million he raised from supporters – to unseat three-term Sen. Bill Nelson.

Scott’s Democratic challenger will carry the banner for a party that was routed in last year’s election – the GOP winning all statewide elections and supermajorities in the Florida House and Senate.

And they can expect little help from the national party in flipping the seat blue.

Democratic-held seats are on the ballot in Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, and the experts expect the party to devote resources to those races, given the present state of politics in Florida.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Florida seat as “likely Republican,” in 2024.

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Race to unseat Florida Sen. Rick Scott begins with Dem's announcement