Senator Marco Rubio of Florida easily turned back a Republican primary challenge from a millionaire businessman Tuesday, setting up a November election against Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy in a race that could determine control of the Senate.
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With the primary now behind Rubio and Murphy, both men can now officially place their focus on each other in what is sure to be one of the most expensive and visible campaigns of the battle for the United States Senate.
Beruff, a real estate developer who self-funded the campaign in a similar vein to Trump, had attacked Rubio for missing votes during his presidential campaign, not being anti-immigration enough and failing to wholeheartedly support Trump as the party’s eventual nominee. The other two candidates on the ballot failed to gain any traction or donations.
Mr Rubio had pledged to return to private life, but reversed course and launched his Senate re-election bid, scaring almost every challenger out of what had been a crowded Republican field.
Rubio challenged Murphy to a series of six debates, the same number as in Rubio’s first Senate run in 2010. Patrick Murphy has the party’s support over Alan Grayson.
“No one can make that commitment because you don’t know what the future’s going to hold in your life”, he told CNN Tuesday. “He gave up on his job, he gave up on Florida”, Murphy said. He decided two days before the filing deadline to get back in.
Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association announced Thursday that Republican U.S. Sen.
If McCain and Rubio were facing challengers from the right, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was facing an opponent from the left: the outspoken progressive Tim Canova, who scored an endorsement from none other than Bernie Sanders.
But it is Rubio’s strong comeback against anti-establishment forces within the Republican party that is likely to be the most memorable feature of the Florida primary. “After spending the summer running from scandal and avoiding voters, Murphy has given Floridians little reason to believe he’ll work on their behalf in Washington”.
On Tuesday Rubio scored a decisive victory in his primary race, winning 72 percent of the vote and demonstrating that the first-term senator retains a powerful base of support in the state. “Just as we did in 2010, at least one of these debates should be sponsored by a Spanish language media outlet”, Rubio wrote.
That chased away every major Republican opponent except Beruff, who had never run for elected office.
Hotly contested primaries also developed to fill the open House seats of Murphy and Grayson, as well as those vacated by the retiring Gwen Graham (D), Ander Crenshaw (R) and Curt Clawson (R).
But Grayson’s campaign was essentially capsized when his ex-wife accused him of domestic violence. Murphy said Grayson’s “words and actions have disqualified him from public service”.
The general election in Florida, the largest swing state in a presidential year, is expected to be critical to Democratic hopes to recapture the majority in the Senate.
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Rubio has the advantage of already having won a statewide election in a state with more than 12 million voters.
