While the race to replace outgoing Florida Senator Marco Rubio has taken off, there is no clear frontrunner in either the Democratic or Republican primary races.
Democrat Representatives Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy are on a collision course to have one heck of a bloody primary, as Grayson has already gone on the offensive against his younger colleague in the House of Representatives, who recently referred to him as an “errand boy” for special interests.Both men are locked in a virtual tie according the latest polls, but Grayson enjoys the support from Progressives, or Liberals as they are better known, whereas Murphy is sitting pretty among establishment Democrats.
As far as the Republicans vying to become the next Senator from the Sunshine State, there is military vet Todd Wilcox, Lt. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and Rep. Ron DeSantis.
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Rep. Ron DeSantis, like Rubio was in 2010, is the clear favorite among conservatives around the state.
Well, at least those who know of him.
Again, like Rubio, DeSantis has been able to garner the support from the Senate Conservatives Fund, FreedomWorks, and the Club for Growth.Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who is close friends with Rubio, and is also considered conservative, has considerable name recognition in Florida’s largest county, Miami-Dade, as well as some marginal name ID around the rest of the state.
Lopez-Cantera will run on the fact that he and Governor Rick Scott have been able to improve job creation, and turn Florida’s economy since being tapped for the Lt. Governor job.
Both Lopez-Cantera and DeSantis have raised around $1 million each in this past FEC reporting cycle. DeSantis is besting Lopez-Cantera in the fundraising department, as the junior congressman came into the Senate race with more than $ 1 million in this campaign account.
And then there is Rep. David Jolly (R). Jolly, who recently announced that he would run for the Senate because he is in jeopardy of being redistricted out of contention for his 2016 re-election to the congress, enjoys an early lead in the polls.
In the latest poll conducting in the GOP Senate primary race, Jolly grabs 16% of the vote, while Lopez-Cantera receives 10%, and DeSantis follows with 9%.But while Lopez-Cantera and DeSantis are considered to be conservative, Jolly is not.
Jolly has received one of the lowest conservative rankings among Republican member of Congress.
Conservative Review gives Jolly a 40% rating, which they also consider to be a big fat “F.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Action Scorecard gives DeSantis an 88%, while giving Jolly a dismal 45% rating.Jolly’s 45% rating from Heritage is far below the Republican average of 67%.
So, why has Jolly ranked so poorly?
Here are the reasons why:
-Jolly supported fully funding President Obama’s executive amnesty for illegal immigrants program.This is a death blow for him.
-Jolly voted in favor of approving Washington, D.C.’s abortion mandates, “which would force pro-lifers to violate their religious beliefs.
-Jolly voted in favor of keeping the Death Tax, something Rubio and others opposed
-Jolly voted in favor of using taxpayer dollars to bail out the Highway Trust Fund. The bailout was for $11 billion.
-Jolly says that marriage should be redefined.
-Jolly voted against Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget because he believed it to be “too conservative.”
-Jolly has refused to support the effort to defund Planned Parenthood, even as it has been learned that Planned Parenthood backs big bucks off the sale of aborted fetus body parts.
But running as a moderate statewide in Florida is a whole different endeavor. We saw how running as moderate failed Charlie Crist in 2010 against the conservative Marco Rubio.
It will be difficult for Jolly to move to the right, and not get dinged for doing so.
He needs to tread lightly.
Advantage: DeSantis, with Lopez-Cantera following closely.
Oh, almost forgot that Rep. Jeff Miller (R) is expected to be getting into the race as well.