U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy easily won their primaries Tuesday, setting up a battle over the next 70 days that promises to play a critical role in determining which political party controls the U.S. Senate for the next two years.
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Republicans now hold a 54-46 seat majority in the Senate.
In the Jacksonville area, Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown became the fourth House incumbent to lose a primary race. Al Lawson is nearly assured of replacing her in the heavily Democratic district.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio speaks to supporters as he stops to thank volunteers at a phone bank on the final day before the Florida primary election on August 29, 2016 in Miami, Florida.
Rubio and Murphy, a U.S. House member from Jupiter, easily defeated primary challengers Tuesday in the race for Rubio’s seat.
“Floridians deserve better than Marco Rubio, and that difference will be on display in the upcoming debates, including the Leadership Florida debate on October 26”, said Murphy.
The Tampa Bay Times also reported that Rubio accepted an invite for a debate, possibly in early October. “Sen. Rubio has the worst vote attendance record of any Florida senator in almost 50 years”. “You compare that to Senator Rubio who just yesterday said no one can make a commitment to a six year term”.
In the Atlantic-coast 18th district, left open by Murphy, wounded veteran Brian Mast was buoyed to victory by national conservative groups over Rebecca Negron, whose husband is president of the state Senate. His disapproval ratings rose from 35 percent to 43 percent. Now it’s time to see if the rest of Florida will be as forgiving as he seeks a second term.
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. In June, Murphy campaign manager Josh Wolf said in a statement that a CBS report that the candidate inflated his resume was “deeply false”.
But Murphy is still largely unknown in Florida and outside Republican groups began running negative ads against him weeks ago.
Rubio made a last-minute decision to seek another term and almost cleared what was a crowded Republican field. If Clinton wins by a large margin, it could hurt Rubio in the state Obama carried in 2008 and 2012.
Even with Florida being shifted toward slightly favoring Rubio, Sabato said the national landscape “looks like an ideal situation for a Democratic Senate takeover”. “The last guy who said that was a prime minister from England in the 1930’s, and he regretted it for the rest of his life”, Rubio added.
In advancing to the general election, the 80-year-old McCain handily beat ex-state Sen.
Republicans now outnumber Democrats 17-10 in the state’s congressional delegation. If Democrats sweep all four seats seen as competitive in November, the Republican advantage could be reduced to 14-13.
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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.
