(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . U.S. Senate race: Democrat Val Demings to square off with incumbent GOP Marco Rubio in FL debate [1] ['Issac Morgan', 'More From Author', '- October'] Date: 2022-10-18 Following myriad campaign advertisements, the two nominees vying to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate will face off Tuesday evening, in the only scheduled debate before the Nov. 8 election. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican and former Florida House Speaker, is seeking a third term in the Senate and has gotten support from law enforcement groups across the state. But he likely will be grilled during tonight’s televised debate by his Democratic opponent Val Demings on issues such as his missed roll call votes in Congress and alleged attacks on women’s reproductive rights. Demings is a former Orlando police chief — the first female police chief in Orlando — with more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement and serves in the U.S. House. The one-hour debate will take place at the Palm Beach State College Lake Worth campus. It’s the only debate Rubio had agreed to, but Demings had accepted invitations to three contests, as previously reported by the Florida Phoenix. “Tonight, Marco Rubio will highlight his record of getting things done for Florida and shine a light on Congresswoman Val Demings’ blind support for Democrats’ agenda and her failure to deliver results for Floridians,” Elizabeth Gregory, Rubio campaign communications director, said in an email Tuesday to the Florida Phoenix. Demings’ campaign released a memo Tuesday morning, listing some of the talking points from Demings in the debate. She’s expected to highlight her long-time experience in law enforcement. And she’s likely to launch an attack on Rubio’s stance on abortion, labeling him as an extremist on the issue. Rubio has defended his co-sponsorship of Republican legislation to impose a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation with exceptions for rape and incest. Unlike Florida’s 15-week ban on the medical procedure, the 15 weeks’ abortion bill being discussed in Congress would allow exceptions for rape, incest, or “in cases of risk of death or major injury to the mother.” Rubio is on record in support of a total ban on abortion from the moment of conception, with no exceptions for rape or incest, but has wiggled somewhat on the issue. “I do not believe that the dignity and worth of human life is tied to the circumstances of their conception,” he said during an August interview with CBS News Miami. “Marco Rubio has never faced a debate opponent like Chief Val Demings who can take him on and hold him accountable for failing to show up for the people of Florida,” Zack Carroll, Demings’ campaign manager, said in an email Tuesday morning. “Marco Rubio supports extremist abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest, and he’s completely out of step with the majority of his own constituents who support protecting access to abortion,” Carroll said. Meanwhile, the Rubio campaign on Tuesday morning unveiled three new digital ads on YouTube, touting Rubio’s tenure in Congress, part of an ad series entitled “Getting Things Done For Florida.” In one of the ads, two men are praising Rubio for his support of Everglades restoration. And another features elderly women saying he helped victims of Hurricane Michael that made landfall in the Florida Panhandle. Based on recent polls, Demings has been behind Rubio in the race. For example, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight forecast shows Democrats are “slightly favored to win the Senate,” but in the Florida race, the chance of winning shows Rubio would likely be the winner. That said, Demings has been raising more money in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, according to campaign finance records from the Federal Election Commission — about $64.6 million from January of 2021 to September. Rubio has raised about $35.2 million in that same time period. And for money spent on their respective campaigns, Demings has spent $59.7 million, while Rubio has spent $30.5 million. Data show that Rubio has more “ending cash on hand,” with $9.6 million, compared to Demings’ $6.4 million. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/10/18/u-s-senate-race-democrat-val-demings-to-square-off-with-incumbent-gop-marco-rubio-in-fl-debate/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/