Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott sailed to reelection on Tuesday, securing a second term and taking one of Democrats’ two long-shot pickup opportunities off the Senate map.
Mr. Scott was leading his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, by 11 points when The Associated Press called the race at 8 p.m.
Democrats thought they had a chance for an upset since Mr. Scott won his first Senate race in 2018 by just a fraction of a point and his two gubernatorial races before that by 1 point each. The 2018 Senate contest in which he defeated Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson was so close that it triggered a recount.
But Florida has shifted rightward since 2018, largely putting statewide races out of reach for Democrats.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell had hoped to get a boost from a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to an abortion in Florida’s constitution and override the state law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. A majority of Florida voters backed the measure, but it failed because it fell short of the 60% support needed to be adopted.
Mr. Scott is quickly jumping into another election — an internal Senate contest on Nov. 13 for the top Republican leadership position. He faces Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas in the battle to replace Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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