WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy is taking preliminary steps to challenge Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio in next year’s midterm election, launching the type of state “listening” tour that often precedes a campaign and is being done virtually because of the pandemic.
“I am thinking seriously [running for Senate] in both ’22 and ’24, “Murphy said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
“The only person Marco Rubio cares about is Marco Rubio,” accused the Democrat in his third term. And, she added, “I know what it takes to defeat a powerful Republican president because I did that.”
But first the most important things – the kind of smooth launch designed to build name recognition across the state and it’s not explicitly about setting up a campaign. A four-minute video accompanying the announcement of its “Cast Forward” virtual tour across the state has all the characteristics of a modern biographical campaign launch film.
“My family escaped Communist Vietnam and we were rescued by the United States Navy, so I owe my life to this country,” says Murphy in the video. “My parents, facing a future in which their children would have no opportunity, freedom or democracy, decided that we could die in search of light, that this was better than living in darkness”.
Murphy would face a campaign with a state party in turmoil after Joe Biden won the presidency, but lost Florida by three and a half points in November. Republicans control the governor’s office and the two seats in the U.S. Senate.
Rubio, who lost the Republican Party presidential primaries to Donald Trump in 2016, won re-election to his Senate seat that year by about 8 percentage points, and dodged a potential political turmoil when Ivanka Trump decided against an alleged challenge in the for next year.
Earlier this week, Murphy downplayed a possible Senate nomination in an interview with NBC News.
“I’m really focused now on doing my job, serving my community,” said Murphy at the time. “Of course, there will come a time when I hope to be able, you know, to share my experiences of winning in a district that reflects the state more broadly. But this is not the time. At the moment, I am really focused on trying to make the next Covid account reaches the finish line. ”
On Wednesday, she was less shy, acknowledging that she is actively considering a campaign against Rubio. But she insisted that her listening tour was not designed as a platform for that offering.
“It isn’t about that,” she said.
The sessions will focus on five areas, according to a press release scheduled to come out widely on Wednesday: Covid’s response; combating disinformation; combating climate change; promotion of social justice; and against suppression of the voter.
The virtual tour was designed to help Florida’s Democrats find the right message to attract mid-term voters, no matter who their candidates for various positions are, Murphy said.
“I think I have some ideas and experience to offer, but the most important thing is that I want to hear it,” she said.
As for Washington Democrats who think Florida is a waste of time and money for his party – and there are more than a few in the nation’s capital – Murphy said it was possible to win.
“Florida is not a red state,” she said. “It is a difficult state.”