Rick Scott gets Democratic challenger in Navy veteran Phil Ehr

Navy veteran and former congressional candidate Phil Ehr (D) announced on Monday that he’s launching a Senate bid to take on Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) next year in Florida.

Ehr last ran for Congress in 2020 against Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, losing by more than 30 points.

“A storm is brewing in Florida. For eight years, politicians like Rick Scott, [Gov. Ron] DeSantis, Gaetz and [Sen. Marco] Rubio have stood by [former President] Trump’s war on the truth,” Ehr said in a more than two-minute campaign ad launching his campaign. 

“They’re the axis of lies, spreading disinformation at all costs. They want to keep us confused, lost in the storm to hold onto power. And Rick Scott is among the worst,” Ehr continues, before targeting Scott over his comments on Social Security and Medicare and for a Medicare fraud scandal that took place in the late 1990s.

Scott’s team noted Ehr’s defeat in 2020 in responding to the challenger.

“It says everything you need to know about Chuck Schumer and the Florida Dems’ recruitment efforts that the best they can do is a guy who lost a congressional race two cycles ago by 30 points,” Scott campaign spokeswoman Priscilla Ivasco said in a statement.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Scott’s seat as “like Republican.”