Mucarsel-Powell, Giménez to battle for Florida swing district

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez (R) easily won the GOP primary in Florida’s 26th District to challenge first-term Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) this fall.

Giménez defeated Republican rival Omar Blanco at 8:42 p.m. EDT, according to The Associated Press. He will now face Mucarsel-Powell in the swing district in November.

Giménez, who was born in Cuba, is a former firefighter and county commissioner who was first elected mayor in 2011. He announced he would make his first run for national office in January and quickly received President Trump’s endorsement.

Mucarsel-Powell flipped the South Florida district in 2018 by defeating GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo by fewer than 5,000 votes. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates this year’s race as a “toss-up.”

Both parties have eyes on the battleground district. The National Republican Congressional Committee featured Giménez on the top tier of its “Young Guns” program, which identifies candidates in competitive districts, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Mucarsel-Powell on its list of vulnerable House members to defend.

Mucarsel-Powell holds a significant fundraising lead over Giménez. She had raised more than $3.8 million as of July 30, while Giménez had collected $1.1 million.

A recent Republican-commissioned poll showed Giménez with a 5-point lead, just outside the margin of error. 

Mucarsel-Powell released an ad attacking Gimenez following his victory Tuesday, accusing the mayor and his sons of being “connected to shady deal after shady deal.”

“Getting wealthy off taxpayer funds is a family affair for Carlos and his kids, and exactly why we don’t need him in Congress,” the narrator says in the ad. “There’s enough swamp in Florida already.”