SARASOTA, Fla. (SNN TV) — More children were killed due to firearms than any other cause since 2020, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. It’s one of the reasons former Florida congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is jumping into the 2024 U.S. Senate race.
“We cannot continue to allow gun violence to be the number one killer for children in America,” the former congresswoman said.
She’s running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Sen. Rick Scott. When she launched her bid for the U.S. Senate, she said she had gun safety on her mind, which came into focus again after the shooting in Jacksonville.
“As a mother, as someone that lost her father to gun violence, it’s devastating to live through another shooting, to think that my children are not safe in school. I’ve talked to parents all over the state; that is a top concern for them,” Mucarsel-Powell said.
Sen. Scott has a record on guns, and it’s one not always aligned with gun rights supporters. In 2018, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, he signed a bill into law that raised the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21 and established a mandatory three-day waiting period for gun purchases. That earned Scott a rare rebuke from the NRA.
But in 2022, he voted against a national bill to tighten gun safety laws, the Bipartisan Communities Act, earning him fresh criticism from those in favor of tougher gun laws. Scott made the argument the national gun bill didn’t provide due process for red flag cases as the one he signed in 2018. He also said the bill he signed into law was more collaborative than the national bill.
“I have no trust or faith in him. If I did, I’d maybe be working with him in other areas. I’m running for Senate because it’s time to put our state above special interests,” Mucarsel-Powell said.
In her campaign’s announcement video, she said she would take on those who wouldn’t “put Florida first,” and said one of the areas the senator put interests above the state was on the issue of affordable housing
“We have an affordability crisis here. People are really concerned they’re not going to be able to pay for their bills, their rent, their mortgage, their property insurance rates, and there’s one person that owns that and that’s Rick Scott,” said the former congresswoman.
At issue is the Sadowski Fund the state uses as a dedicated source of affordable housing. Scott signed budgets that diverted money from that fund to other projects. The coalition shared articles during his governorship that criticized and highlighted these budgets. That’s in stark contrast to their praise of the current legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who they’ve praised for the passage and signing of the Live Local Act which, in part, strengthens the fund. Scott now says the fund should be “properly funded.”
Mucarsel-Powell is running against several other Democrats for her party’s nomination.
SNN reached out to the Scott campaign and didn’t yet hear from him in time for the story. We hope to speak with him during his reelection campaign.