WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats’ push for national voting rights legislation ended with a thud this week in the Senate, but for Florida’s Val Demings and Marco Rubio the standoff offered an opportunity to draw sharp policy contrasts as their Senate race heats up.
Demings, an Orlando Democrat mounting a campaign for the U.S. Senate after three terms in the U.S. House, repeatedly called on the Senate to pass the House-approved legislation that would expand mail voting nationwide, make Election Day a holiday and give the federal government increased tools to counteract state-level restrictions.
“Voting rights are not partisan. Our democracy is not partisan. Our Constitution is not partisan. When it comes to protecting our rights, the vote in the Senate should be 100 to zero,” Demings said in a statement Wednesday evening as the Senate was locked in a marathon debate.
