TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republican Sen. Rick Scott is set to place roughly $10 million in new TV ads in the homestretch of a Florida Senate race where he is widely seen as the favorite but Democrats have continued to make noise.
The Scott TV buy, first shared with NBC News, will focus mostly on the Tampa, Orlando and Miami media markets, with spot buys in other parts of the state, according to campaign advisers.
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He is running against former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who has been massively outspent in the race but is getting some national help from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the final weeks of the race.
The DSCC has pledge a “multi-million” effort to help Mucarsel-Powell, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried announced Monday in a call with reporters. She was unable to provide a specific figure, and the DSCC declined to offer a specific figure. Last week, it issued a release saying it was doing a “multi-million” TV buy in both Florida in Texas but did not disclose specifics.
“That money is coming at the right time and we are going to use it to make sure that we are building the infrastructure to get Debbie Mucarsel-Powell over the finish line [and] retire Rick Scott,” Fried said.
Regardless of the national money that might come for Democrats, Scott will no doubt hold his long-running huge cash advantage. Scott has spent at least $8 million from his personal wealth, and the $10 million media buy is as much as Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign had spent total throughout the end of July. Scott’s campaign spent $20 million during that same time, according to the most recently available campaign finance reports.
“Our campaign has taken this race seriously from the beginning. We are in a strong position and keeping our feet on the gas through the end,” Scott adviser Chris Hartline said.
