Democratic Florida Congresswoman Val Demings has officially entered the 2022 Senate race, hoping to grab the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Marco Rubio in the November election, Politico reports.
The former chief of police of Orlando, Demings is arguably the most high-profile Democrat in the state, due in large part to national coverage of her serving as one of the House managers during Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. Demings released a three-minute campaign ad on Twitter announcing she was entering the race. (Available after the fold.)
With her campaign for Senate, she will be be unable to campaign for reelection to her House seat, as Florida allow you to run for only one state or federal office at a time. This may pose a problem for Democrats seeking to maintain a majority in the House because Demings’ Florida 10th Congressional District was held by a Republican for more than 30 years before she won election in 2016.
Rubio, for his part, has taken to his typical playbook in attempting to demean Demings. “Congresswoman Val Demings is a do-nothing House member without a single significant legislative achievement in her time in Congress,” Rubio said in a video released Wednesday.
Rubio, who has been in the Senate since 2011, has failed to pass any substantial legislation. He was part of the group that crafted the 2013 immigration reform bill that then-Speaker of the House John Boehner, a Republican, let die without bringing it to the floor for a vote. Since then, he hasn’t done anything notable except run for president in 2016 and taken an infamous gulp of water while giving the Republican response to Barack Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address.
https://twitter.com/valdemings/status/1402581582528057345