showdown

Val Demings continues to kick major ass in Florida and Marco Rubio is no doubt running scared

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Val Demings just got another step closer to outsing Marco Rubio from the U.S. Senate in the fall.

The pro-LGBTQ congresswoman handily won the Democratic nomination to challenge Little Marcho for his U.S. Senate seat in November, thus setting herself up to become Florida’s first Black female senator.

Demings received over 1.2 million ballots, or 84% of the vote, in yesterday’s primary.

“Together, I really do believe this daughter of a maid and janitor who is not supposed to be standing here tonight,” she said during her victory speech last night. “I really do believe that together we can do anything!”

But the good news doesn’t stop there.

Demings is also giving Rubio a run for his money in many of the polls.

An August 8 to 12 survey conducted by the University of North Florida found she had a four point lead against him, garnering 48% of support to his 44%. Another 7% said they supported someone else, and 2% said they weren’t yet sure who they supported.

Meanwhile, an August 2 to 5 poll conducted by Change Research and sponsored by EMILY’s List found the race was in a dead heat, with both candidates receiving 46% among likely voters.

According to an aggregate of polling by FiveThirtyEight, Rubio, who won reelection in the Florida Senate race by almost eight percentage points in 2016, still maintains a slight advantage overall, but his lead had shrunk significantly since the winter and early spring, when he initially led by 20+ points.

Related: Val Demings handles Jim Jordan like a boss after he interrupts her

Demings is also out-fundraising him by millions and millions of dollars. According to the most recent FEC data, she has raised nearly $50 million compared to his his $37 million.

While many Democrats believe Demings has what it takes to unseat Rubio, the party’s national leadership is still prioritizing competitive Senate races in other states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

The Dems have stronger pickup opportunities in those places as Republicans continue to struggle with polarizing picks, or “candidate quality” as Mitch McConnell likes to say, like former NFL star/accused domestic abuser Herschel Walker, TV quack doctor Dr. Oz, and homophobic Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance.

Related: Mitch McConnell whines about GOP “candidate quality”… So why is he supporting so many of them?

Having Demings in the U.S. Senate would not only be a victory for Democrats, it would be a victory for LGBTQ people.

In 2019, she co-sponsored the Equality Act, saying in a tweet, “Our past is so ugly in this area. We should all be trying to make it right. The #EqualityAct will protect #LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, employment, education, and more.”

And in 2018, she gave a truly inspiring speech at the HRC’s annual Time to Thrive Youth Conference, where she took the room to church as she spoke about the importance of celebrating our authentic selves.

Rubio, on the other hand, is about as antigay as they come.

Just last month he voted against codifying same-sex marriage into federal law. He also opposes non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people as well as gender neutral bathrooms. And he voted against Pete Buttigieg being the first out Secretary of Transportation and Rachel Levin being the first openly trans assistant secretary for health. Oh, and he has a 0% rating with the HRC.

Now, some tweets…

Related: Tammy Baldwin cornered Marco Rubio in an elevator about his antigay remarks and it didn’t go well for him

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