Exclusive: Florida Democrat Likens Rick Scott to Dictator in Abortion Ad

With Florida's 6-week abortion set to take effect Wednesday, Democratic Senate candidate and former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell will start the week off with a new ad campaign casting incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott as an opponent of freedom.

Control for the Senate could hang on Mucarsel-Powell's ability to sell this message. In 2024, Democrats must defend seven seats in red and purple states to have a shot at keeping the Senate.

Florida and Texas represent the party's only two viable pick-up opportunities, both presenting uphill battles. However, the Florida Supreme Court's April 1 ruling approving a ballot measure that could overturn the abortion ban has energized Democratic efforts to flip the Sunshine State.

The new Spanish-language advertisement released today, which was first shared exclusively with Newsweek, centers around Mucarsel-Powell's story as an Ecuadorian immigrant. In the ad, which her campaign declined to share a spending figure for, Mucarsel-Powell likens abortion restrictions to the restrictions on freedom her family fled by immigrating to the United States.

"My mother brought me here from Ecuador for freedom, and it's freedom that Rick Scott wants to take away," Mucarsel-Powell says in the ad. "He supports banning abortion and forcing the government into our doctor's offices."

Born in 1971, Mucarsel-Powell was barely over a year old when Ecuador's president was overthrown in a coup. The country was then ruled by military leadership until 1979 when democracy was established, yet it faced significant economic troubles in the years preceding Mucarsel-Powell's move to the U.S. in 1985.

"My family lived under a dictatorship," she continues in the ad. "I know when corrupt politicians like Rick Scott attack one freedom, they never stop there, so I'm running for Senate to stop him."

Latinos comprise 27 percent of Florida's electorate, many of them come from Cuba and countries in South America that have faced situations similar to that described by Mucarsel-Powell.

In 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio trounced their Democratic challengers in Miami-Dade County, a feat that in years prior many on the left would have considered unthinkable. Reversing course on this margin is vital to Mucarsel-Powell's shot at flipping Scott's seat in 2024.

However, an April 13 poll by USA Today/Ipsos found that Scott leads Mucarsel-Powell 36 percent to 26 percent. The Florida Republican's campaign appears set on maintaining that lead by characterizing Mucarsel-Powell as the extremist on abortion.

"Everyone knows that Senator Rick Scott supports the right to life. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell does not," Scott campaign spokesman Will Hampson told Newsweek in a statement.

"Floridians agree that there should be some reasonable limits placed on abortion," the statement continued. "Senator Scott has been very clear where he stands: No national bans, with the consensus at 15 weeks with limitations for rape, incest and life of the mother. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell takes an extreme view opposing any common-sense limits on abortion."

According to the USA Today/Ipsos poll, 74 percent of respondents said they had never heard of Mucarsel-Powell. Eight percent had a favorable view toward her while 14 percent held unfavorable views. In contrast, just 13 percent had not heard of Scott. The incumbent posted a favorability rating of 37 percent and an unfavourability rating of 48 percent.

The poll found that 55 percent of Floridians oppose a national 6-week abortion ban, and 23 percent support one. As Democrats continue place abortion at the center of their 2024 campaign message, Republicans like Scott will likely continue to face questions regarding the issue in the months to come.