U.S. Rep. Demings’ Flirt with 2022 Senate Run Causes Democratic Shuffle
Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., left. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., right. (Mandel Ngan and Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – According to recent reports by Politico and WKMG’s Click Orlando website, Rep. Val Demings (D) is seriously considering a run against US Senator Marco Rubio (R) in 2022, leaving her District 10 seat in the House up for grabs.
Rep. Demings had been considering a run for Florida Governor, but according to two people with knowledge of her plans, she is planning on running against Sen. Rubio instead.
In a tweet on May 18th, Demings said she was “humbled at the encouraging messages” she’s seen and confirmed she’s “seriously considering a run for the Senate.”
Currently, there are three democrats seeking Rep. Demings District 10 seat, Florida Sen. Randolph Bracy, civil rights attorney Natalie Jackson and former Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala. The lone Republican in the race so far is Dr. Willie Montague, founder and President of the House of Timothy, Inc.
With Sen. Bracy running for Rep. Demings’ seat, his District 11 seat in the Florida Senate will also be opened up.
But it’s not just a race for the Florida and US House and Senate that is heating up, but also the race for Florida Governor.
Former Governor and US Representative Charlie Crist has already announced he is running for Governor in 2022. Today, Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried also announced her plan to challenge Ron DeSantis in 2022. It is expected that Florida Senator Annette Taddeo will also be joining the field to run against Governor DeSantis.
If Senator Taddeo runs for Governor, she will be running against her former running-mate Charlie Crist. Taddeo was Crist’s Lt. Governor candidate in 2014 and it would also open up her District 40 Florida House seat.
In a statement Taddeo said, “It’s abundantly clear that this Governor has failed Floridians and must be held accountable. From denying businesses the freedom to operate to blocking public schools from the full funding they need to provide a strong education system, Ron DeSantis continues to infringe on the rights of Floridians to have the freedom to succeed in our state.”
On running for governor, Nikki Fried told POLITICO she wants to run for governor “because I’ve stood up my whole life for those who have needed a fighter.”
A new St. Pete Polls survey of 2,572 Democratic voters between May 24 and May 26, 2021 (1.9% margin of error) commissioned by Florida Politics found:
- 55% of the voters were for Charlie Crist
- Just under 22% were for Nikki Fried
- 11% were holding out for another candidate
- 12% were undecided
Of those polled about who had the best chance of beating Ron DeSantis:
- 30% thought Charlie Crist had better than even odds of winning
- 38% thought Crist had a 50/50 chance
- 27% thought he had a small chance
- 16% were unsure
But when asked about Nikki Fried’s chances of beating Ron DeSantis:
- 14% thought Fried would have an advantage
- 29% said it would be a toss-up
- 42% said she had a small chance of winning
- 16% were undecided
Other Democrats that have filed to run for governor in 2022 include Richard Dembinsky, David Freeman, Jonathan Karns, Amaro Lionheart, Alexander Lundmark, and Timothy Mosley.
No Party Affiliation (NPA) candidates include Kyle Gibson and Frank Hughes Jr.
John Mercadante is the lone Republican challenger.
This is shaping up to be an interesting 2022 election.
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Lynn DeJarnette is a contributing writer for Florida National News, part of the FNN News Network. | info@floridanationalnews.com