U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, a Democrat, won his party’s Senate nomination on Tuesday and is expected to give Rubio a spirited challenge in the autumn campaign.
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Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz also won her Congressional primary in Florida. Kelli Ward and two other Republicans on the ballot. Marco Rubio of Florida and John McCain of Arizona are turning toward the general election with GOP control of the Senate at risk.
Republican leaders encouraged Rubio to change his mind, seeing him as the best hope to keep his seat in GOP hands as Democrats sought to regain a majority in the Senate. He will square off against Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in November.
If Florida voters perceive that Rubio sees the Senate as merely a stepping stone to another run at the White House, they may make Rubio pay for his lack of commitment at the polls, at which point Rubio’s political career would effectively be over at least in the short term.
In other races Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown lost a primary as she faces felony fraud charges.
Many of those races have been marked by the familiar national dynamic pitting the party establishment vs. insurgents. In the redrawn 2nd District, surgeon Neal Dunn and lawyer Mary Thomas are clashing over their ties to former Gov. Charlie Crist – the Republican-turned-independent-turned Democrat who is a reviled figure among Florida conservatives. With 74 percent in, Murphy was up 59-18 percent. But in the 19th district seat vacated by Clawson, Francis Rooney, former US ambassador to the Vatican and a major GOP fundraiser, won the party’s nomination over Chauncey Goss, son of former congressman and Central Intelligence Agency director Porter Goss; and Dan Bongino, an ex-Secret Service agent who twice failed in Maryland congressional bids. But they have tiptoed around him, mainly out of concern that his provocative comments on illegal immigration, Muslims and USA support for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation could alienate moderate and independent voters in their states.
“For the first time, every single congressional district is competitive”, said Susan MacManus, a state politics expert at the University of South Florida. Darren Soto beat back an attempt by Dena Grayson – wife of the incumbent – to fill her husband’s seat. Unlike other incumbents, Rubio and McCain are extremely well-known with their own brands distinct from Trump’s, but the mogul’s impact on their candidacies remains unpredictable in states with large numbers of Hispanics, many of whom Trump has alienated with his insulting comments about Mexicans and his hard line on immigration.
Rubio beat millionaire developer Carlos Beruff, the only major GOP candidate to stay in the race after Rubio chose to run for re-election two days before the deadline to make the ballot.
On the Democratic side, the battle between Mr. Grayson and Mr. Murphy looked like it would turn into a proxy fight between progressive and centrist Democrats.
Jewish supporters of both Rubio and Murphy predicted a win for their guy. “I have a counter challenge: Senator Rubio, commit to serving a six-year term”.
“Marco’s opponent is a pisher from Fischer Island, who was the subject of a devastating investigative report from a local CBS affiliate revealing he lied about his college degree, a CPA license, and his business experience”, Martin Sweet, Rubio’s director of Jewish outreach in the 2016 presidential primary, told Jewish Insider.
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