Mucarsel-Powell criticizes Rick Scott on abortion views to flip seat blue
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the leading Democratic contender for the Florida Senate seat, is targeting Senator Rick Scott’s wavering stance on abortion to attract more voters. In a Spanish ad, she emphasizes Scott’s support for abortion bans, contrasting it with her views on freedom. The ad reflects the significant influence of Latino voters in Florida, many of whom oppose abortion bans despite religious affiliations.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the Democratic front-runner for the Florida Senate seat, is homing in on incumbent Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) wobbly abortion stance with an eye toward gaining more voters.
In an advertisement released in Spanish on Monday, Mucarsel-Powell focused on Scott’s stance, saying he is in favor of banning abortions.
“My mother brought me here from Ecuador for freedom, and it’s freedom that Rick Scott wants to take away,” Mucarsel-Powell said in the ad.
Twenty-seven percent of Florida’s voters are Latino, coming from Cuba and South American countries. As a whole, Latino voters tend to be more religious, but 68% said they are opposed to abortion bans, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll.
Scott’s position on abortion has softened in recent years as the procedure has become a lightning rod following the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
When Florida approved the state’s six-week abortion ban, he said that if he were still governor, he would sign the bill. In early April, Scott told the Washington Post he wouldn’t vote in favor of enshrining abortion rights in the state’s constitution, but around the same time, Scott said he was opposed to national bans and instead was in favor of a 15-week ban with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
“We ought to be where the consensus is,” Scott told the Washington Times. “In my state, that consensus is 15 weeks.”
On Wednesday, the state’s six-week abortion ban will go into effect, with polling showing that 55% of Floridians oppose the ban.
Backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and President Joe Biden, Mucarsel-Powell entered the Senate race as part of the Democrats’ plan to flip a seat in deep-red Florida and maintain majority rule in the Senate.
Democrats are facing a brutal 2024 Senate map, with the races in Florida and Texas appearing to be the most feasible seats to flip. If winning seats in strong Republican territory wasn’t hard enough, Democrats also have to defend seven seats, including tough races in Montana and Ohio.
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Despite viewing Scott as one of the weaker Republican incumbents, Mucarsel-Powell has more than the partisan divide to overcome. A recent poll conducted by USA Today/Ipsos found that 74% of respondents said they had never heard of Mucarsel-Powell, whereas just 13% said they hadn’t heard of Scott.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign for comment.
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