For Republicans to win control of the United States Senate, Florida must deliver.
And the pressure is on the state’s senior senator, Marco Rubio, to retain his seat.
At an election night rally Tuesday Rubio told supporters his opponent, Orlando-area US Rep. Val Demings, has a lot of money to spend on her campaign.
"So we are going to be outraised and that is okay, we just need enough money to get our message out," Rubio told an enthusiastic crowd at The Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment, in the heart of Hialeah.
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Rubio isn't wrong. Federal Election Commission records show Demings has raised more than $10 million more than him.
"We can’t sit back and assume, 'oh, I heard this is going to be a good election, we don’t need to turn out and vote,’ that is not true," he said.
Demings enjoyed an overwhelming win in Tuesday’s primary election, with more than 80% of Democratic voters choosing her over lesser known candidates.
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"I stand before you tonight believing in the promise of America," Demings told supporters at a rally after her win. "We dream of an America where we will do everything in our power to keep dangerous guns out of the hands of dangerous people."
Law enforcement and politics run in the Demings family. She spent 27 years at the Orlando Police Department, rising to the rank of chief, the first female to ever head the department.
She then switched to politics, representing the Orlando area in Congress.
Her husband, Jerry Demings, won re-election as Orange County’s mayor on Tuesday night.
NBC 6 Political Analyst Carlos Curbelo said for the congresswoman it’s all about location, location, location.
"She is from Central Florida which tends to be the part of the state that swings, and determines which candidates win,” he said.
Rubio is a staunch conservative, popular with his Republican constituency which stretches into deep red territory, from Central to Northern Florida.
He’s also a favorite with Hispanic voters, especially in South Florida’s Cuban communities.
On Tuesday night he ended his speech hammering home one of the traditional pillars of Republicans politics: small government.
"The true power in our society should be in your home, in your community and in your families," Rubio said. "And to the extent that there needs to be government power, it should be in our cities, in our counties, in our states, in our school board, that is where it needs to be."
