Rubio, Demings rake in cash as Florida Senate race heats up

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) and Rep. Val Demings (D) both made major fundraising hauls in the second quarter as she seeks to unseat him in next year’s midterms, according to their campaigns. 

Demings’s campaign said Thursday that she raised more $4.6 million during the period, while Rubio’s campaign said he brought in $4 million. Fox News was the first to report on Rubio’s haul. 

Rubio’s campaign did not provide a breakdown of his latest fundraising, but Demings’s said she raised more than $2.9 million in the 21 days following her launch, drawing from 113,000 grassroots donors. The average donation was $26. 

The news comes nearly a month after Demings’s campaign announced she raised $1 million a day after she launched her challenge to Rubio.

The congresswoman’s campaign currently has more than $3 million cash-on-hand. The incumbent senator had nearly $4 million cash on hand at the end of March. 

The latest fundraising numbers are another indicator of how expensive the Sunshine State’s Senate race will be. Florida boasts 10 media markets and the third-largest state population in the country.

Demings faces a formidable opponent in Rubio, who won reelection in 2016 with 52 percent of the vote.

Florida is emerging as one of the most consequential states in the 2022 battle for the Senate. Former President Trump won the state in 2016 and 2020, and Republicans flipped two House seats in south Florida in 2020.

Florida Democrats also experienced defeats in 2018 when Sen. Rick Scott (R) ousted incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) won the governor’s mansion. 

The Cook Political Report rates the 2022 Senate race as “likely Republican.”