Florida U.S. Senate candidates Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Val Demings are set to face off at the polls. NBC 6’s Steve Litz reports
All eyes will be on Florida's race for U.S. Senate Tuesday, where Republican Marco Rubio is trying to hold off Democratic challenger Val Demings.
The race is one of several across the country that could help decide the balance of power in the Senate.
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Rubio, the state’s senior U.S. senator, is facing re-election to try for a third term. Demings, a three-term congresswoman and former Orlando police chief, is trying to turn the senate seat blue.
DECISION 2022
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Demings built a national name with a prominent role in then-President Donald Trump’s impeachment and for being on President Joe Biden’s list of possible running mates.
But she faces an uphill battle as polls leading up to the election have shown Rubio with a sizable lead.
And while Democrats have had a decades-long advantage in voter registration numbers and Florida has been considered a swing state in presidential elections, those days appear gone.
DeSantis beat Democrat Andrew Gillum four years ago by 32,436 votes out of more than 8.2 million cast, a margin so narrow that it required a recount.
In the four years since Republican Ron DeSantis beat Democrat Andrew Gillum by 32,436 votes out of more than 8.2 million cast, a margin so narrow that it required a recount, Republicans have erased the Democrats’ 263,000-voter registration advantage. As of Sept. 30, Republicans had a lead of 292,533 voters — a swing of nearly 556,000 registered voters over DeSantis’ first term.
There are 14.5 million registered voters overall.
Demings has received massive financial backing and the support of President Joe Biden, who appeared with Demings at a rally at Florida Memorial University a week before the election.
Though Demings has outraised him, Rubio has received the backing of former president Donald Trump. The two appeared together at a rally in Miami Sunday.
In their only debate last month, Rubio and Demings clashed on everything from abortion to gun control.
Rubio skirted a question on whether he would support a federal abortion ban with no exceptions and instead called Demings' position extreme because she would not say what limits on abortion she would support.
“Every bill I have ever sponsored on abortion and every bill I’ve ever voted for has exceptions,” Rubio said.
“What we know is that the senator supports no exceptions," Demings responded. "He can make his mouth say anything today. He is good at that, by the way. What day is it and what is Marco Rubio saying?”
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, Rubio has expressed his personal opposition to abortion in all cases while saying he’d back abortion-restricting statutes that include exceptions. Demings supports abortion access at least until fetal viability, saying the government should not be the one to determine that.
On gun control, Demings accused Rubio of not doing enough to change laws to prevent shootings, including mass killings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.
“How long will you watch people being gunned down in first grade, fourth grade, high school, college, church, synagogue, grocery store, movie theater, a mall and a nightclub and do nothing?” Demings said.
But Rubio defended his opposition to gun restrictions, saying some proposals would not have stopped many of the mass shootings and Americans have a Second Amendment right to protect themselves.
“Everything she is for would have done nothing to stop any of those shootings,” Rubio said. “Every one of these shooters would have passed the background check that she keeps insisting on. No one here is in favor of mass shootings and violence."
