Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) won reelection to a second term Tuesday night, prevailing over Democratic challenger and former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Scott led Mucarsel-Powell 55%-43% when the Associated Press called the contest just one minute after polls closed statewide at 8:01 p.m. ET, with about 83% of the ballots counted.
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Scott used his victory speech to put the spotlight on his bid to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), an internal election that Republican senators will hold next week when they return to Washington. Scott mounted an unsuccessful challenge to McConnell in 2022 and will now face Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a three-way contest.
“We have a great Republican Party all across this country. We need a Republican Party in D.C.,” Scott told supporters. “Florida is the center of the Republican Party of this country. Washington can learn a hell of a lot from what we’ve done right here in this great state.”
In what was once a purple state, national Democrats exerted modest campaign spending in Florida late in the race with tempered expectations they could return the Sunshine State to its former battleground status. Florida and Texas were long-shot pickup opportunities for Democrats in a cycle that heavily favored Republicans.
“Democrats keep trying, but they can’t beat Rick Scott,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said in a statement after his race was called.
Mucarsel-Powell conceded the race, calling the results “not what we expected.”
“Today, millions of Floridians came out to vote to say no más to Rick Scott,” she said. “To anyone who thinks this Latina is giving up on Florida, you’re not paying attention.”
Mucarsel-Powell previously served one term in the House from 2019 to 2021 in a South Florida district and lost reelection in 2020 to Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL). Exit polling from the Associated Press on Tuesday showed that a sizable number of voters, about 25%, said they knew too little about Mucarsel-Powell to form an opinion.
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Scott won his second term by far wider margins than his first. In 2018, following a recount, he eked out a 0.2 percentage point win to unseat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).
Two closely watched ballot measures that would have legalized recreational marijuana and enshrined abortion access into the state constitution failed to garner the 60% threshold required to pass. The outcome meant that Florida’s six-week abortion ban will remain the law of the land.
