In front of a packed crowd in Palm Beach Gardens, he rallied his supporters in what’s expected to be a close U.S. Senate Race.
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In other races, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown lost a primary as she faces felony fraud charges. Former state Sen. Al Lawson won the Democratic nomination in her stead.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who resigned last month as Democratic National Committee chairwoman, fended off her first serious challenge since winning office in 2004 by beating Tim Canova, a Bernie Sanders-backed law professor. “Patrick Murphy is nothing more than an old-fashioned liberal, and his ideas that he stands for are wrong for Florida”, said Rubio. That’s why Florida already handed him one loss this year.
Murphy wasted little time turning his acceptance speech into a blistering of Rubio.
“Senator Rubio is trying to distract from his awful record”.
“His challenge today is nothing more than a desperate attempt to try and change the campaign narrative from the fact that he abandoned Florida”, Murphy said. He wasn’t willing to say for sure whether he would stay for his full six-year term.
The 2008 GOP presidential nominee easily defeated former state Sen.
The closely watched Florida match-up is considered to be among those 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. Murphy, a former Republican, raised significantly more money and earned the backing of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. “He gave up on his job, he gave up on Florida”, Murphy said.
But Murphy is still largely unknown in Florida and outside Republican groups began running negative ads against him weeks ago.
“I think Patrick’s biggest advantage is that right now all the polling has Rubio slightly ahead, but Rubio’s name identification is universal, a hundred percent, while Murphy has great room for growth”. But the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton figures to cast a large shadow on the Senate race. But after having been tested many times in presidential debates earlier this year, Rubio looks eager to engage his rival.
Rubio has endorsed Trump for president but has been unenthusiastic about whooping him up, saying he has areas of disagreement with him.
Democrats also are hoping to gain seats in the heavily Republican delegation to the U.S. House in a lively campaign season unleashed by court-mandated redistricting seen as chipping away advantages of incumbents.
Florida had to rip up and redraw its congressional maps after they were found to violate the state constitution’s provision requiring compact districts that don’t favor incumbents or political parties.
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Political forecasters believe it will be even more hard for Democrats to retake control of the House. Republicans are defending 24 seats in the 2016 election, compared to 10 Democratic seats that go before voters. If Democrats sweep all four seats seen as competitive in November, the Republican advantage could be reduced to 14-13.
