U.S. Navy veteran Phil Ehr launches Senate challenge to Rick Scott

U.S. Navy veteran Phil Ehr, a Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in 2020, is launching a bid to oust U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Beating Scott is likely to be an uphill battle for Ehr or any other Democrat. The former two-term Florida governor is heading into his first Senate reelection campaign with the advantage of incumbency and vast financial resources to draw from.

During his first Senate bid in 2018, Scott spent nearly $64 million of his own money to defeat former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. As he heads into his reelection campaign, Scott already has $3 million in the bank, ready to spend.

Ehr, by comparison, raised just over $2 million for his 2020 challenge to Gaetz, a conservative firebrand who represents a deep-red district in the Florida Panhandle. Gaetz ultimately won that race by 30 percentage points.

In announcing his Senate campaign on Monday, Ehr, a retired Navy commander, drew heavily on his military service; a video released by his campaign touts his 26 years in the Navy, including missions in the Balkans and Desert Storm. More recently, he said, he has been involved in providing humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.

He cast Scott as part of what he called “the axis of lies,” a cohort of Republican politicians, whom Ehr said had been complicit in spreading misinformation.

“Rick Scott is a coward. We can’t trust him in the battle for our rights, the truth and our future,” Ehr said in his announcement video. “So once again, duty calls. It’s always quietest before the storm.”

His campaign also shared a poll from the progressive firm Change Research suggesting that Scott may be more vulnerable to a challenge than many political observers previously thought.

Ehr is unlikely to be the only credible Democratic candidate running for the nomination to challenge Scott in 2024. Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has also said that she’s considering a Senate bid, as has Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins.

Democratic former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson filed paperwork for a Senate campaign last month. Republican Keith Gross, a lawyer and former assistant state attorney, has also launched a longshot primary challenge to Scott.

A spokesperson for Scott’s reelection campaign did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment on Ehr’s entrance into the race. But Scott’s allies don’t appear intimidated by the senator’s new challenger.

“Best @chuckschumer and @FlaDems can do in #FLSen is a guy who lost a congressional race 2 cycles ago by 30 points,” Chris Hartline, a longtime adviser to Scott, tweeted, referring to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Florida Democratic Party.