75 campaign stops to stop Florida Senator Rick Scott (R). That’s what Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell (D) announced last night during a meet-and-greet event at the Villain Theater in Miami, Florida.
The night marked the first stop of her “75 Stop Tour” as she engages supporters, appeals to potential voters, and makes her case to unseat Senator Scott. As the official Democratic nominee for Sen. Scott's senate seat, Rep. Mucarsel Powell is hitting the ground running in the hopes that a campaign win is just 75 stops away.
The senatorial hopeful announced that the name of the tour derives from “every single time that Rick Scott took the fifth when he was being investigated for committing fraud.”
“It is 75 times that Rick Scott showed this country what a lack of moral character he has, 75 times that he showed America what political corruption looks like, and 75 times that he shows that he will do absolutely anything to get back to power so that he can continue to enrich himself from government,” she said to her supporters.
The former member of the House of Representatives noted that this alleged fraud has made Senator Scott “the wealthiest senator in the United States government.”
As such, Mucarsel-Powell argues that Scott "has been using that seat for self-enrichment and self-gain,” adding that “he used the money that he committed Medicare fraud with and slid his way into the governor’s mansion.”
In further criticizing the Florida senator, Rep. Mucarsel Powell argued that he was a proponent of repealing Obamacare, making cuts to social security and Medicare, and he, along with Republicans, are a threat to a woman’s right to choose.
“That will stop in November because we are going to protect our care. We are going to protect our benefits. We are going to work on bringing companies that will invest in our state, that will create good paying jobs like solar panels. We are the sunshine state.”
Also taking the stage that evening were Florida Rep. Donna Shalala (D) and Commissioner Eileen Higgins.
Rep. Shalala, who lost her congressional seat in 2020, shared high praise of Rep. Mucarsel Powell, drawing a distinction between her and Senator Scott.
“She is one of the most gifted politicians I’ve ever worked with. More importantly than anything else, what Rick Scott doesn’t have is that she understands people’s lives,” Rep. Shalala said.
Commissioner Higgins similarly highlighted what she believes should drive voters to back Rep. Mucarsel Powell, suggesting that, as part of a Democratic senate, Rep. Mucarsel Powell would contribute to better public transportation and “a green energy economy to make sure that we are saving our planet.”
Mucarsel-Powell highlighted that her campaign is one “that will include every single person that lives in the state regardless of political affiliation because so many people in the state are suffering.” As far as Senator Scott’s time in office is concerned, she argues that “he has been on the wrong side of every single issue that affects us here and our livelihood in the state of Florida.”
After Mucarsel Powell addressed her supporters, The Floridian caught up to her for an exclusive interview regarding voting in the upcoming election.
House Republicans have been on the offensive regarding proof of citizenship being required to vote. This has resulted in Republicans introducing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which includes provisions ensuring that only United States citizens can vote in elections.
Earlier this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced that over a million people had been removed from the state’s voter registration rolls since the 2020 election, commenting that the effort was to “protect the right to vote and to crackdown on illegal voting.” According to the governor, among the more than one million voters that had been removed included “noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state.”
When asked what her stance was on requiring proof of citizenship being required to vote, Mucarsel Powell attributed the suggestion to nothing more than a Republican scare tactic.
“In the United States, we already have laws in the books that prohibit anyone that’s not a U.S. citizen from voting. If there’s any sort of fraud, we have voter protection programs, we need to make sure that rules are enforced," Mucarsel-Powell said.
“I don’t know what they’re scared of. I think what they’re doing is trying to intimidate voters. It’s a voter suppression tactic. Ron DeSantis used it by arresting those voters that voted right before the 2022 cycle, and that sent a chill to many voters, particularly Black voters and Latino voters, so now that’s what they’re trying to do,” she explained.
Mucarsel Powell went on to claim that Republicans are employing authoritarian tactics to enforce voter suppression.
“Dictatorships in Venezuela like Maduro, they use those same tactics. Russia uses the same tactics. It doesn’t surprise me that they’re following that playbook because they’ve been attacking democracy now for years. Rick Scott is not someone to be trusted at all, and he’s desperate, so he uses those false attacks now against our electoral system, which is very dangerous," she added.
As Mucarsel Powell embarks on her 75 stops across the sunshine state, she begins the trek by making history, one that she celebrated with her supporters.
“I am now the first Latina candidate to ever be at the top of the ticket in the state of Florida running for U.S. senate.”
According to the latest Real Clear Politics average of polls, Scott leads Mucarsel-Powell by about 6 percentage points.
