With less than a week before the 2022 midterm elections, Democratic senatorial nominee, Rep. Val Demings, has enlisted the help of former President Donald Trump in a last-ditch effort to try to peel away voters from Senator Marco Rubio.
Rep. Demings, who was a manager in the questionable impeachment case of President Trump, released a video of Trump ridiculing and admonishing Senator Rubio when the two men were running in the contentious 2016 Republican presidential primary race.
Is Demings really this desperate?
“On this, Trump was right: Marco Rubio has failed to show up for Florida,” stated Rep. Demings.
“He never votes, he never shows up to vote,” said Trump in 2016
Demings’ main line of attack against Rubio has been that he misses votes and committee assignment meetings, but she herself has missed days in the U.S. House of Representatives.
On this, Trump was right: Marco Rubio has failed to show up for Florida. pic.twitter.com/fyBX76VO1B
— Val Demings (@valdemings) November 4, 2022
The advantage Demings has over Rubio when it comes to voting in Congress is that she can phone a vote in, while Rubio has to be present everytime to vote.
The Senate is in session nearly every day, while the House is in session approximately two weeks every month. Additionally, the House allows for "proxy voting," that is, voting remotely, while the Senate does not.
Demings herself proxy voted 52 times since the voting practice was put in place. While this is only 7% of her vote record, it is worth noting that the top five proxy voters representing Florida are all Democrats, with Al Lawson alone voting by proxy almost 98% of the time.
Again, the Senate is in session 3-4 weeks of every month. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives barely scratches two weeks a month. Some months there are 3 weeks of session, but those are rare instances.
The latest public opinion polls show Rubio leading Demings by as many as 6 percentage points, and if the latest vote tracking in Miami-Dade County continues the way it has been, it looks like it will be a very long night for Florida Democrats, including Demings, on election night.
