Florida Rep. Val Demmings has officially launched her campaign to challenge Florida Senator Marco Rubio, becoming the most high profile Democrat to challenge the incumbent senator yet. The House Rep. previously served as an impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment trial. Demmings also has a strong record of voting alongside the progressive “Squad” of Democrats and Nancy Pelosi since being elected to Congress.
Fox News reports:
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Demings acknowledged she’s in for a “tough fight” against the two-term senator and former presidential candidate, but called out Rubio for voting against coronavirus relief aid this year, which included another round of stimulus checks. She said she’d stand up against laws that suppress voting and discriminate against transgender youth and would vote to eliminate the Senate filibuster to protect “basic rights.”
“We are dealing with some critical issues,” Demings told the paper. “And we need bold, courageous leaders to deal with those issues. And the bottom line is, too many times Marco Rubio did not show up. And when he did, he did not have enough courage to fight for Florida.”
After announcing her campaign, Sen. Rubio slammed the move saying that Floridians will not elect a Socialist to the Senate.
“None of them will admit to being a socialist,” Rubio told Fox News in a recent interview. “She probably won’t. But she certainly has voted for socialist things.”
“How can you vote with ‘the Squad’ 94% of the time and argue that you’re not an honorary member of that group? How can you vote with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time and argue that you’re not a far-left, liberal extremist? So she’ll have to answer to that,” the senator emphasized as he seemingly pointed to congressional voting record data from the independent, nonprofit news organization ProPublica.
Demmings faces a tough battle against the two-term senator and former presidential candidate. Rubio’s campaign manager slammed the Democrat’s voting record noting she has supported efforts to defund the police and has openly opposed recent voting laws in Florida.
