The Florida seat is considered one that could tip the Republican-controlled Senate into Democratic hands in November, especially if presidential hopeful Donald Trump underperforms in the general election and drags down other Republicans on the ballot.
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Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy each easily won their primaries Tuesday, setting up a November showdown that’s guaranteed to be nasty as each party grapples for a majority in the Senate.
– Patrick Murphy (@PatrickMurphyFL) August 31, 2016Donald Trump is a candidate of hate & division.
His campaign sees an advantage in linking Murphy to Clinton, who is battling integrity issues among voters in Florida and across the country. McCain held a 20-percentage-point lead in early returns when the AP projected his victory late Tuesday. Canova had raised about $3.3 million, an extraordinary amount for a primary challenger with no political experience. The incumbent congresswoman held off college professor Tim Canova, 57-43 percent.
Not a single senator of either party has lost a primary this year, and in House races only five incumbents have lost, in several cases because they were under indictment or their districts were redrawn. Murphy also visited two other South Florida polling sites.
Many of those races have been marked by the familiar national dynamic pitting the party establishment vs. insurgents.
Another longtime politician, who is also in his 80s and has received much media attention over his tough stance on immigration in the Grand Canyon State, won his primary easily. With 74 percent in, Murphy was up 59-18 percent.
“After refusing to debate while running a slash-and-burn campaign devoid of actual ideas, I hope the senator can rest comfortably with his conscience as he continues to lecture others about civility”.
Wasserman Schultz and McCain were both expected to win their primary elections. “Marco’s steadfast support of Israel and hardcore opposition to the nuclear Iran deal stands in sharp contrast to his opponent who foolishly echoed Neville Chamberlain proclaiming that the deal would provide ‘peace in our time'”.
“He still says that deal will bring us peace in our time”.
Beruff, a real estate developer who embraced the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, stayed in the race but failed to catch fire with Florida voters after spending millions of his own dollars. One, Murphy, has been accused of padding his résumé, while his rival, Grayson, a favorite of many progressives, faces accusations that he abused his former wife.
Rubio starts as the favorite against Murphy.
Looking to face the victor of the Republican nomination in the November election are five Democrats, including Reps.
Despite being trounced by Trump in Florida’s presidential primary earlier this year, Rubio was still the easy choice for most Southwest Florida Republicans on Tuesday.
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Ms. Ward had been mainly ignored by Mr. McCain, but she got national attention by saying in recent interviews that Mr. McCain would be unable to complete another six-year term because of his age.
