BRADENTON — Incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott will face multiple challengers on the November ballot, but his chief competition will come from Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Scott, 71, was elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving two terms as Governor of Florida. Scott has largely voted with the party's far-right majority.
Senator Scott serves on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on the Budget, and the Special Committee on Aging.
In the Senate, Scott voted against the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and called upon Florida and other states to reject federal assistance from the package when it passed. Later that year, Scott voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the 2021 United States Capitol attack. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Scott was one of only seven Senators who voted to object to seating the electors from Pennsylvania.
In 2022, Scott was one of 31 Republicans to vote against a spending bill that included $13.6 billion in military assistance for Ukraine's defense, arguing that it was filled with "pet" projects and later demanding that President Biden send Ukraine more support. Scott also supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, 53, became the first female to represent Florida's 26th Congressional District when she won a narrow victory in 2018. Mucarsel-Powell served one term before suffering a narrow loss to Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Giménez, a Republican. In December of 2019, Mucarsel-Powell voted to impeach President Donald Trump. She previously served in the Florida Senate.
Mucarsel-Powell has worked for various non-profits, including the Hope Center, Zoo Miami Foundation, and the Coral Restoration Foundation. She was the associate vice president for advancement and later an associate dean at the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Mucarsel-Powell emerged from a crowded field of Democrats to easily win the August primary.
Feena Bonoan is the Libertarian candidate for Florida’s Senate seat. Bonoan served in the U.S. Navy from 2006 to 2016. Bonoan’s website says she holds a degree in Economics and has started and grown a successful tech startup emphasizing innovation and individual empowerment.
Ben Everidge is an NPA candidate in the race. A 1976 Cocoa Beach High School graduate, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in international studies from American University in Washington, D.C. While attending AU, Everidge worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill. Everidge later earned his Master’s degree in American government from Georgetown University, where he was named a University Fellow.
Everidge's congressional staff experience includes a decade working for former Senator Bill Nelson, whom Scott defeated to win the seat in 2018. He also worked for Senate Budget Committee Chairman and eventual Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce chaired by the late Representative John Dingell of Michigan, and a subcommittee chaired by the late James J. Florio of New Jersey.
Tuan "TQ" Nguyen is an engineer and human rights advocate who is also running for the seat. Nguyen was born in Vietnam, where he experienced considerable hardships in the post-Vietnam War era. Nguyen managed to flee the Vietnamese communist regime and has made his home in Florida since 2003.
4 comments on this item
Only paid subscribers can comment
Please log in to comment by clicking here.
Mark Winston
Scott also proposed to sunset & vote to renew Social Security and Medicare every five years -- an idea so knuckleheaded that even his GOP Senate colleagues held their noses.
Sunday, September 1 Report this
rayfusco68
It is time to stop blindly voting party lines and look at the actual candidate's record. Rick Scott's company, Colombia Healthcare, paid the largest fine ever for defrauding Medicare and he pleaded the 5th amendment 55 times when being deposed for issues related to the fine. He is not a friend of the average citizen, or the elderly.
Sunday, September 1 Report this
jimandlope
Rick Scott is probably the most boring member of the Senate. He is painful to listen to and oftentimes has no point to what he is saying. Yes it is time to dump a Republican! Jim Tierney
Sunday, September 1 Report this
bgsu6
Mr. Medicare fraud, why no Navy hat in the picture?
Sunday, September 1 Report this