Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott hopes his re-election to a second term will enable him to gain a leadership role in the Senate, while former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is seeking a surprise victory that will help her party could maintain its leading position. thin control of the chamber.

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Scott, a former Florida governor, easily defeated two challengers in the Republican primary, while former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell emerged from one Four-way Democratic primary. They will be joined on the November ballot by Libertarian Feena Bonoan and two other candidates running without party affiliation: Ben Everidge and Tuan “TQ” Nguyen.

Scott hopes to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down as GOP leader. A win for him would also reaffirm the Republican Party’s strength in the state, despite ballot measures on abortion rights and recreational marijuana legalization that Democrats hope will boost voter turnout.

This is expected to be one of the closest races this election. Many polls show Scott narrowly leading Mucarsel-Powell.

Scott, one of the richest members of Congress, has pumped millions of dollars of his own money into the race, as he has in his last three elections. Murcarsel-Powell was far out of its depth and had little money from the National Democrats until the final weeks of the campaign, so it struggled to attract attention.

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Debbie Mucarsel Powell

Mucarsel-Powell is running two years after Democrats lost all five statewide seats in Republican landslides. She was elected to represent a district of Miami in 2018 and was the first Ecuadorian-born and South American-born member of Congress. She lost her re-election in 2020 to U.S. Representative Carlos Gimenez.

Now she is the only Latina running for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Mucarsel-Powell’s top three themes include expanding and protecting economic opportunity, protecting reproductive freedoms, and preserving Social Security and health insurance.

Rick Scott

Scott served two terms as governor, winning each with less than 50% of the vote. In 2018, he defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in a race that was decided by 0.2 percentage points. But Florida politics have changed. The last time Scott voted, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the state. Republicans now have a one million voter lead.

He focused his message on the economy and rising household prices during President Joe Biden’s administration. He also spent months supporting former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, although it took about a year after Trump announced his campaign to endorse him.

News4JAX sent a questionnaire to each U.S. Senate candidate, asking them about their background and views on various topics. Scott didn’t answer, but you can Click here to read the full story with the candidates who responded.

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Mucarsel-Powell will host an election night party in Miami.

Meanwhile, Scott held several rallies, including Tuesday morning in Jacksonville ahead of his election night party at the Hyatt Regency in Bonita Springs, where he is expected to give a speech after the race is called.