With a South Florida Republican defending his seat in one of the most competitive congressional races in the nation, both parties are firing away as they get ready for November.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., is now running for a third term and the Democrats have their eyes on taking him down. While he does face a primary from retired Navy officer Demetries Grimes, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who ran for the state Senate two years ago, is the favorite in the Democratic primary. That being the case, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) took aim at Mucarsel-Powell at the end of last week.
The NRCC featured an article from the New York Times on how a group of Democrat donors in New York were bundling campaign donations to candidates in close races.
“Wanted to flag yesterday’s New York Times article on New York mega-donors bundling campaign contributions to pour into Democratic House races in other states,” noted Maddie Anderson, a spokeswoman for the NRCC. “One of the mega-donor darlings happens to be Florida Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Even though End Citizens United is touting her as someone who will fight to keep big money out of politics, she clearly has no issue with taking big money from ultra-rich NYC donors for her own campaign.”
Curbelo, who faces a primary challenge from teacher Souraya Faas, drew fire from the Democrats on Monday.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) noted that U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is running for the U.S. Senate, asked to be removed from Curbelo’s immigration reform bill to help DREAMers. Despite that, Curbelo’s PAC is backing McSally in her Senate race.
“Carlos Curbelo owes Miami voters an explanation,” the DCCC insisted. “Why is Curbelo donating to Republicans who oppose immigration reform and protecting DACA recipients?”
“Carlos Curbelo’s money doesn’t go very far when it comes to electing people to Congress who will fight for DREAMers, but it goes a long way toward electing more right-wing immigration extremists,” said Javier Gamboa, a spokesman for the DCCC, on Monday. “Miami DREAMers are sick and tired of politicians like Carlos Curbelo playing games with their lives to score political points. Make no mistake: this November Miami voters will reject Carlos Curbelo and his right-wing Republican cronies.”
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