Sen. Marco Rubio is powering up his reelection campaign early, bracing for Democrats to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Florida to defeat him.
Seventeen months before Election Day, the Republican has a campaign manager, political director, director of Hispanic outreach, communications director, and a team of consultants. Mike Needham, chief of staff in Rubio’s Senate office, is expected to play a major role in the campaign in an advisory capacity. Recruitment of grassroots volunteers, in conjunction with the Florida Republican Party and county GOP officials, is underway. Rep. Val Demings, Rubio’s likely Democratic challenger, announced her campaign Wednesday.
The Sunshine State, typically a toss-up battleground, has been friendlier territory for Republicans in recent elections. But those GOP victories were difficult. Rubio’s team expects Demings, a black woman, to raise tens of millions of dollars from grassroots liberals across the country who would love to see a prominent Republican such as Rubio defeated. Democratic groups are sure to spend as much, or more, as part of an effort to save the party’s 50-seat majority.
“She’s the perfect candidate for the Act Blue community,” said a source close to Rubio’s campaign, referring to Demings and the online fundraising conduit that raised more than $5 billion for Democrats and Democratic causes in the 2020 election cycle. “She’s going to raise a ton of money, and nobody should be surprised by that.”
CHRIS SUNUNU LINCHPIN OF GOP EFFORTS TO WIN BACK MAJORITY
Rubio’s 2016 reelection bid started late. His initial plan was to run for president and retire from the Senate if that campaign did not pan out. But the senator was convinced to stick around and mounted a late campaign for a second term, in the spring of the election year, a couple of months after his White House hopes fizzled. This time around, there has been no indecision and no late start.
The senator’s campaign manager, Mark Morgan, has been on the job since early March. Among his first projects has been building and deploying a statewide voter turnout operation. Rubio, who is considering another run for president in 2024, meaning there is a lot riding on him winning a third term, does not appear to be taking his race for granted, despite the advantage of running in a midterm election with President Joe Biden in office.
In a recent news conference, Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, was asked if Florida is a red state, given the GOP has won most statewide contests for state and federal office over the past decade, including his victory in the 2018 midterm elections, an otherwise banner year for the Democrats. “I think it is,” Scott said, without hesitation.
Rubio, sitting right next to Scott and participating in the session with reporters, interjected with a more cautious view of Florida’s political landscape, although he delivered his opinion with a tone that was slightly tongue-in-cheek and elicited laughter from the room. “I have a different take. Florida is a highly competitive state that requires the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars … by everyone,” Rubio said. “All hands on deck.”
The senator’s campaign wasted no time attacking Demings once her campaign became official. Morgan issued a statement charging that Demings, the former Orlando police chief, has “no record of results for Florida” and has backed “efforts to defund the police.” Rubio posted a video to Twitter. He called Demings a “far-left liberal Democrat” and a “do-nothing House member” who votes “with the Marxist squad” 94% of the time.
Democrats took issue with Rubio’s characterization of Demings, and they believe he is politically vulnerable. Most are pleased with Demings as their party’s consensus pick to challenge Rubio. But some Democrats were concerned that the party was not moving fast enough to take on the Republican incumbent and defend their chosen contender.
“Just so you get the political imbalance in FL, TODAY, the FL GOP will likely start contacting GOP voters to attack Val Demings,” tweeted Pam Keith, the Democratic nominee in Florida’s 18th Congressional District in 2020. “They will be sending out mailers, emails & FB ads, keep them coming So, is there an entity in FL doing the same on the Dem side, contacting voters to land punches on Rubio?”
