'Incredible opportunity': Florida Senate hopeful cheers abortion ballot measure

When former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is out campaigning for Florida's Senate seat, she meets voters of all partisan persuasions who want to protect abortion access in the state.

"It hasn't been just Democrats. This is not a partisan issue for people living here in the state of Florida," Mucarsel-Powell told Daily Kos in an exclusive interview. 

"I've been talking to so many independents and Republicans who have come to me and said, 'This is an important issue for our family, and I wanted to come and meet you and hear what you had to say. And I want you to know there's no way my family is doing anything to support Rick Scott,’" Mucarsel-Powell said, referring to the Republican senator she aims to unseat in November. 

Senate Democrats view Scott, who has never won a general election by more than 1.2 percentage points, as a uniquely vulnerable candidate, even in a red state like Florida. Now they can add the turbo booster of an abortion-rights ballot measure following a Monday ruling from the state Supreme Court allowing Floridians to vote on the issue in November. At the same time, Florida’s high court allowed a six-week ban on abortion to go into effect, overturning decades of legal precedent regarding privacy protections provided by the state’s constitution.

The successive rulings landed like a one-two electoral punch that could upend the state’s political landscape to Democrats’ benefit.