Incumbent Marco Rubio (R), Val Demings (D), and seven other candidates are running in the general election for U.S. Senate in Florida on November 8, 2022.
The Hill‘s Caroline Vakil said, “Florida’s Senate race is considered one of the most competitive this November.” In 2018, the last U.S. Senate race in the state before this one, Rick Scott (R) defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) by 0.2 percentage points. In 2016, incumbent Marco Rubio won re-election by a margin of 7.7 percentage points.
Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010 to replace retiring incumbent Mel Martinez (R). In the general election, Rubio defeated Kendrick B. Meek (D) and Gov. Charlie Crist (I). Rubio was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, serving as majority leader from 2003 to 2006 and House speaker from 2006 to 2008. Rubio has emphasized his Senate career; according to his campaign website, “As a U.S. Senator, Marco has advanced commonsense, conservative ideas that address the issues Americans face.”
