Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorsement: Demings in Democratic Senate primary
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The race for Florida's U.S. Senate seat is already heating up, as both the Democratic and Republican frontrunners have taken to the airwaves.
Of the four Democrats vying for their party's nomination, The Palm Beach Post endorses Democrat Val Demings in the primary election Aug. 23. She is by far the best-prepared Democratic candidate, with the clear momentum to take on the two-term incumbent, Republican Marco Rubio.
Florida's Democratic primary is closed, like many other partisan races. That means only registered Democrats may vote in it.
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Demings, 65, is a native of Jacksonville who was elected to Congress to represent the Orlando area in 2016. A moderate voice in Congress, her work on committee assignments caught the attention of House leadership, resulting in her appointment as a prosecutor in the first impeachment trial of President Trump.
Before that, she was chief of the Orlando Police Department, a position capping a 27-year career in law enforcement. As the first woman to hold the police post, she embarked on a campaign to cut violent crime and build relationships within the community, resulting in a reduction of violent crime by more than 40 percent.
As a candidate for Senate, Demings has made what should have been a cakewalk for a Republican incumbent in a politically red state much more competitive. She has proven to be a prolific fundraiser who occasionally has outraised her better-known opponent. Polls still give the incumbent the lead but at a smaller margin than many thought she would have.
Rounding out the field in the Democratic primary are: Ricardo De La Fuente, 32, a native of Los Angeles now living in Miami; Brian Rush, a 63-year-old attorney from Tampa who served in the Florida House of Representatives; and William Sanchez, 60 an attorney living In Miami who was appointed by President George W. Bush as special counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Other Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorsements
COUNTY JUDGE: Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorsement: Elect Paul Damico county judge again
US HOUSE DISTRICT 20: Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorsement: Cherfilus-McCormick
For all Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorsements, please check our Opinion page.
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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Elections 2022: Post endorses Demings in Senate primary over Rubio
