Regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, one thing is for sure in Florida, Florida Democrats are licking their wounds in disbelief that Republicans absolutely crushed them in races across the state, and managed to flip to key congressional seats in Miami-Dade County.
Because Miami-Dade County Republicans were able to outlast the Progressive agenda that Miami Democrats were pushing, statewide and national Democratic pundits and consultants are now looking to 2022, and no other race is more important to them than Senator Marco Rubio’s senate seat.
Yeah, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will also be on the ballot, but in order for presumed President Joe Biden to affect legislation, or “change the world,” as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) recently said, Democrats, need to take the Senate and hope that Republicans don’t gain any more seats in the House of Representatives.
For now, all eyes are on Georgia as the state’s two senate seats will be decided in a run-off election later this year.
If Republicans manage to stave off what will surely be a massive Democratic push to tip the balance in the U.S. Senate in their favor, Rubio’s 2022 reelection will be one of the most hotly contested races in the nation.
In 2016 Republicans ended with a 0.6% turnout advantage in #Florida
Just wait until you see what it is this time pic.twitter.com/UvQ4ZgyfRT
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 3, 2020
In 2022, 34 Senate seats will be up for grabs, 22 of them are held by Republicans including Rubio’s, who reluctantly ran for a second term in 2016 after losing his presidential bid to President Trump.
While many political pundits, wannabee pollsters, and political consultants maintain that Rubio will not seek a third term to the senate and instead looks to mount another presidential run in 2024, but the fact that Rubio leads the Senate Intelligence Committee and appears to have smoothed over a lot of animosities that Trump supporters have held against him after the brutal presidential primary election, Rubio could very well run for reelection.
Since Trump was elected president, Rubio managed to work things out with the president and was a key supporter of the “America First” agenda that saw the biggest economic and job growth in U.S. history.
Rubio was also at the tip of the spear for the financial recovery efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation, and can be credited for framing the business stimulus measures that have now proven to have saved thousands of business and millions of Americans jobs.
Needless to say, Rubio is on top of his game and has amassed significant influence in the Senate, a lot of it due to his close working relationship with the Trump administration.
So, why would be giving that all up now?
If you would have asked me three years ago if Rubio would retire, I would have said yes, but all bets are off in 2022.
2024
If Rubio is looking to run for president again in 2024, why would he give up his bully pulpit in the U.S. Senate, blow the opportunity to raise the campaign cash needed to mount a successful reelection campaign?
Florida Democrats will also have the money to mount a competitive campaign against Rubio, but who are they going to run against Rubio?
Outside of some self-funder, there isn’t anyone on the Florida Democratic farm team that is not a Progressive, and that would be able to effectively counter Rubio. No one.
Rep. Ted Deutch (D)?
Rep. Deutch, who in 2019 broke out as one of President Trump’s main detractors, is interested in running for the U.S. Senate but is keeping his powder dry to see what Rubio does.
Deutch would be able to garner support from statewide Democrats, but his recent support for the failed Democratic agenda in the state and his one-man campaign to impeach Trump will be what undoes his potential Senate run.
Look what happened in 2016 when Rep. Patrick Murphy (D) ran against Rubio. Rep. Murphy was the frontrunner and would have probably beaten anyone of the Republican senatorial candidates, including then-Rep. Ron DeSantis.
The minute Rubio got in the race, the field of Republicans fell off, and even though he had all the money in the world, Murphy was smothered by Rubio on election day.
Florida Democrats can talk a big game and boast of mounting independent expenditure PAC’s to counter Rubio, but until they find someone viable, and not beholden to their political party’s Progressive and Socialism-lite agenda, they are going to have to wait a bit to pick up one of Florida’s two senate seat.
And if Rubio doesn’t run for reelection, the Republican senatorial nominee Democrats would face in 2022 will be even harder to defeat. More on this to come…
