Scott wins Florida Senate race, fending off Democratic challenge

Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) will win reelection in the Sunshine State, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ.

Scott held off a challenge from former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D), whom polls had shown trailing him in some cases by just a few percentage points.

Florida was one of two main states Democrats targeted as pickup opportunities, in a year that saw Republicans with far more opportunities to flip seats.

The state had been a top swing state for years going into the 21st century, but it has increasingly voted for Republicans since former President Trump’s first election in 2016.

Still, Democrats had expressed optimism at pulling off an upset with Mucarsel-Powell, who represented Florida’s 26th Congressional District in the House for one term from 2019 to 2021. She was the first Latina to be the Democratic nominee for Senate in Florida.

Mucarsel-Powell put up impressive fundraising totals, often outraising Scott from donations alone. Scott was able to close the gap with millions of his own money he loaned to his campaign.

Most election analysts rated that race as "lean Republican." The Hill/Decision Desk HQ's forecast consistently gave Scott the edge.

The Republican incumbent has been a target for Democrats over his 12-point Rescue America Plan that called for sunsetting all federal legislation in five years. After getting backlash from Democrats and some Republicans, he amended the plan to exempt Social Security, Medicare, national security and veterans benefits from the plan.

Scott, who served two terms as governor of Florida before being elected to the Senate in 2018, will now serve a second term as senator.