Presidential • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State House • State judges • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Candidate ballot access |
|
November 8, 2016 |
August 30, 2016 |
Marco Rubio |
Marco Rubio |
Cook Political Report: Lean R[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean R[2] Rothenberg & Gonzales: Lean R[3] |
|
|
Voters in Florida elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 8, 2016.
The race for Florida's U.S. Senate seat was one of nine competitive battleground races in 2016 that that helped Republicans maintain control of the Senate. Incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R) defeated U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D), Iraq war veteran Paul Stanton (L), and nine independent and write-in candidates in the general election, which took place on November 8, 2016. According to Politico, Rubio was “the first Republican senator from the Sunshine State ever to win reelection in a presidential election year.”[4][5]
The heated race was full of personal attacks. Rubio called Murphy "hyper-partisan," "a rubber stamp for, God forbid, a Clinton presidency," and accused him of fabricating his qualifications. A CBS Miami report questioned Murphy's claims of being a certified public accountant and small business owner. Murphy's campaign called the report "deeply false."[6][7][8][9]
Murphy attacked Rubio for missing votes and abandoning Florida voters while campaigning for president. During an interview, he said, "Sen. Rubio has the worst vote attendance record of any Florida senator in nearly 50 years," a statement PolitiFact rated as "mostly true." He also accused Rubio of being a political opportunist. Murphy's spokeswoman Galia Slayen said, "Marco Rubio is willing to abandon his responsibility to Floridians and hand over our country's national security to Donald Trump, as long as it advances his own political career."[10]
In his victory speech, Rubio said, “[I] hope that I and my colleagues as we return to work in Washington D.C. can set a better example how political discourse should exist in this country. And I know people feel betrayed and you have a right to. Every major institution in our society has failed us — the media, the government, big business, Wall Street, academia — they have all failed us. So people are so frustrated and angry. But we must channel that anger and frustration into something positive. Let it move us forward as energy to confront and solve our challenges and our problems.”[11]
This election was one of Ballotpedia's top 10 congressional races in 2016. Click here to read the full list.
HISTORICAL FACTS | |
Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
---|---|---|
|
|
|
Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Florida utilizes a closed primary process, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.[12][13][14][15]
Incumbent: The election filled the Class 3 Senate seat held by Marco Rubio (R). He was first elected in 2010. Rubio decided to seek re-election in 2016, despite his initial claims that he would not seek re-election.[16]
U.S. Senate, Florida General Election, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | Marco Rubio Incumbent | 52% | 4,835,191 | |
Democratic | Patrick Murphy | 44.3% | 4,122,088 | |
Libertarian | Paul Stanton | 2.1% | 196,956 | |
Independent | Bruce Nathan | 0.6% | 52,451 | |
Independent | Tony Khoury | 0.5% | 45,820 | |
Independent | Steven Machat | 0.3% | 26,918 | |
Independent | Basil Dalack | 0.2% | 22,236 | |
N/A | Write-in | 0% | 160 | |
Total Votes | 9,301,820 | |||
Source: Florida Division of Elections |
U.S. Senate, Florida Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
Marco Rubio Incumbent | 72% | 1,029,830 | ||
Carlos Beruff | 18.5% | 264,427 | ||
Dwight Young | 6.4% | 91,082 | ||
Ernie Rivera | 3.2% | 45,153 | ||
Total Votes | 1,430,492 | |||
Source: Florida Division of Elections |
U.S. Senate, Florida Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
Patrick Murphy | 58.9% | 665,985 | ||
Alan Grayson | 17.7% | 199,929 | ||
Pam Keith | 15.4% | 173,919 | ||
Roque De La Fuente | 5.4% | 60,810 | ||
Reginald Luster | 2.6% | 29,138 | ||
Total Votes | 1,129,781 | |||
Source: Florida Division of Elections |
U.S. Senate, Florida Libertarian Primary, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
Paul Stanton | 73.5% | 2,946 | ||
Augustus Invictus Sol | 26.5% | 1,063 | ||
Total Votes | 4,009 | |||
Source: Florida Division of Elections |
General election candidates: Patrick Murphy Paul Stanton Tony Khoury Steven Machat Basil Dalack Bruce Nathan Charles Frederick Tolbert (Write-in) Jon Friend (Write-in) Robert Samuel Kaplan (Write-in) Bradley Patrick (Write-in) Angela Marie Walls-Windhauser (Write-in) Howard Knepper (Write-in) |
Primary candidates:[17] |
Democratic Alan Grayson - U.S. Rep.[19][20] Pam Keith [21] Roque De La Fuente[22] Reginald Luster[23] |
Republican Ernie Rivera[25] Carlos Beruff[26] Dwight Mark Anthony Young[23] Howard Knepper (Write-in)[27] |
Third Party/Other Paul Stanton (Libertarian)[29] Tony Khoury (Independent)[30] Steven Machat (Independent)[31] Basil Dalack (Independent)[23] Bruce Nathan (Independent)[23] Charles Frederick Tolbert (Write-in)[32] Jon Friend (Write-in)[33] Robert Samuel Kaplan (Write-in)[23] Bradley Patrick (Write-in)[23] Angela Marie Walls-Windhauser (Write-in)[23] |
Withdrew: David Jolly (R) - U.S. Rep.[34][35] Ron DeSantis (R) - U.S. Rep.[36][37] Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R) - Lt. Gov.[38][39] Ilya Katz (R)[40] Todd Wilcox (R) - Defense contractor[41][42] |
Rubio provided a reverse coattails effect for President Donald Trump. Rubio won 52.1 percent of the vote, while Trump earned 49.1 percent of the vote, a 3.0 percent difference.
Kartik Krishnaiyer, a liberal blogger and a former spokesman for U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate primary campaign against Murphy commented on the reverse coattails effect, saying, “It shows what a strong vote-getter Rubio is — he outperformed Trump by almost three points and Trump did better than any statewide Republican at the top of the ticket since 2006 when Charlie Crist was a Republican who won his race for governor.”[5]
State Rep. Carlos Trujillo praised Rubio for helping get down-ballot Republicans elected. He said, “Rubio was the catalyst in ensuring that incumbent Republican members in Dade County won their reelections. He actively engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts, recorded commercials and robo calls for several members of the delegation. He was the tipping point in getting us elected.”[5]
A full breakdown of the Republican presidential and Senate races appears below.
*Ballotpedia identified the highlighted races as battleground races and races to watch. The vote percentages are from CNN and will be updated after the final results are released.
2016 Republican Presidential and Senate election results | |||
---|---|---|---|
State | Presidential candidate vote % | Senate candidate vote % | Vote % Difference |
Alabama | Donald Trump | Incumbent Richard Shelby | |
Totals | 62.9% | 64.2% | Shelby +1.3% |
Alaska | Donald Trump | Incumbent Lisa Murkowski | |
Totals | 53.3% | 43.8% | Trump +9.5% |
Arizona | Donald Trump | Incumbent John McCain | |
Totals | 49.5% | 53.4% | McCain +3.9% |
Arkansas | Donald Trump | Incumbent John Boozman | |
Totals | 60.4% | 59.8% | Trump +0.6% |
Florida | Donald Trump | Incumbent Marco Rubio | |
Totals | 49.1% | 52.1% | Rubio +3.0% |
Georgia | Donald Trump | Incumbent Johnny Isakson | |
Totals | 51.4% | 55.1% | Isakson +3.7% |
Idaho | Donald Trump | Incumbent Mike Crapo | |
Totals | 59.0% | 66.0% | Crapo +7.0% |
Indiana | Donald Trump | Todd Young | |
Totals | 57.2% | 52.2% | Trump + 5.0% |
Iowa | Donald Trump | Incumbent Chuck Grassley | |
Totals | 51.7% | 60.1% | Grassley +8.4% |
Kansas | Donald Trump | Incumbent Jerry Moran | |
Totals | 57.2% | 62.4% | Moran +5.2% |
Kentucky | Donald Trump | Incumbent Rand Paul | |
Totals | 62.5% | +57.3% | Trump +5.2% |
Louisiana | Donald Trump | Multiple Republican candidates | |
Totals | 58.1% | (Race not called) | - |
Missouri | Donald Trump | Incumbent Roy Blunt | |
Totals | 57.1% | 49.4% | Trump +7.7% |
North Carolina | Donald Trump | Incumbent Richard Burr | |
Totals | 50.5% | 51.1% | Burr +0.6% |
North Dakota | Donald Trump | Incumbent John Hoeven | |
Totals | 64.1% | 78.6% | Hoeven +14.5% |
Ohio | Donald Trump | Incumbent Rob Portman | |
Totals | 52.1% | 58.3% | Portman +6.2% |
Oklahoma | Donald Trump | Incumbent James Lankford | |
Totals | 65.3% | 67.7% | Lankford +2.4% |
Pennsylvania | Donald Trump | Incumbent Pat Toomey | |
Totals | 48.8% | 48.9% | Toomey +0.1% |
South Carolina | Donald Trump | Incumbent Tim Scott | |
Totals | 55.6% | 61.2% | Scott +5.6% |
South Dakota | Donald Trump | Incumbent John Thune | |
Totals | 61.5% | 71.8% | Thune +10.3% |
Utah | Donald Trump | Incumbent Mike Lee | |
Totals | 45.5% | 67.4% | Lee +21.9% |
Wisconsin | Donald Trump | Incumbent Ron Johnson | |
Totals | 47.9% | 50.2% | Johnson +2.3% |
California | Donald Trump | No Republican on the ballot | |
Totals | 33.3% | No Republican on the ballot | - |
Colorado | Donald Trump | Darryl Glenn | |
Totals | 44.8% | 45.8% | Glenn +1.0% |
Connecticut | Donald Trump | Dan Carter | |
Totals | 41.6% | 35.3% | Trump +6.3% |
Hawaii | Donald Trump | John Carroll | |
Totals | 30.1% | 22.2% | Trump +7.9% |
Illinois | Donald Trump | Incumbent Mark Kirk | |
Totals | 39.4% | 40.2% | Kirk +0.8% |
Maryland | Donald Trump | Kathy Szeliga | |
Totals | 35.3% | 36.4% | Szeliga +1.1% |
Nevada | Donald Trump | Joe Heck | |
Totals | 45.5% | 44.7% | Trump +0.8% |
New Hampshire | Donald Trump | Incumbent Kelly Ayotte | |
Totals | 47.2% | 47.9% | Ayotte +0.7% |
New York | Donald Trump | Wendy Long | |
Totals | 37.5% | 27.5% | Trump +10.0% |
Oregon | Donald Trump | Mark Callahan | |
Totals | 41.3% | 33.9% | Trump +7.4% |
Vermont | Donald Trump | Scott Milne | |
Totals | 32.6% | 33.0% | Milne +0.4% |
Washington | Donald Trump | Chris Vance | |
Totals | 37.7% | 39.2% | Vance +1.5% |
Totals | Trump's average win: 55.4% | Republican senators' average win: 58.6% | Republican senators +3.2% |
Rubio and Murphy wasted no time moving into general election mode after winning their primary elections by large margins—Rubio with 72 percent of the vote and Murphy with 59 percent. The day after the primary, Rubio challenged Murphy to six debates, saying, "when it comes to a debate about our future, I believe Floridians today deserve no less than what they received in 2010."[43]
Murphy replied, "I'm very excited to debate Sen. Marco Rubio, and I'm going to take his challenge seriously when he agrees to serve a six-year term in the Senate." Murphy was referring to Rubio's refusal to commit to serving a full term in the Senate if he was re-elected. He was reportedly considering another presidential run in 2020.[43][7]
Rubio then accused Murphy of trying to dodge debating him. The two campaigns agreed to participate in two debates—one on October 17 and one on October 26.[43][44]
Miami Herald reporters Jeremy Wallace and Kristen M. Clark wrote that the negative tone of the campaign "could turn off voters, but not enough to give the third party candidates a shot to win it." Despite the long-shot nature of his candidacy, Stanton, who won Florida's first-ever Libertarian Party Senate primary election with 74 percent of the vote, said he hoped to add a Libertarian perspective to the Senate debates. When asked in an interview how he would impact the debate, he said, "I would definitely bring a different message to the table. I don’t have the same baggage of the Democratic and Republican frontrunners. ... I would have a very strong showing and get the message of liberty and peace out there. That’s one thing lacking with the other party frontrunners. The ‘old’ parties, I guess you’d call them. Ultimately, the duopoly is going to continue in Florida and nationwide until we have election reform.” Stanton did not make the cut for the October 17 debate or the October 26 debate, despite meeting the criteria to be invited to the second debate.[45][46][47][48]
Jennifer Duffy, a senior analyst with the Cook Political Report, said that the race was "one of the nation’s truly competitive contests. I don’t see that changing much between now and November.”[45]
Rubio and Murphy participated in two debates. The first debate was held on October 17 at 7 p.m. EDT in Orlando, Florida. The debate was moderated by POLITICO Florida, Orlando's WFTV-9, and Cox Media Group. The second debate was held on October 26 at 7 p.m. EDT at Broward College in Davie, Florida. It was hosted by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association.[49]
Both campaigns had trouble coming to an agreement about the number of debates and who should moderate and host them. Rubio called for a total of six debates. He proposed adding four more debates to the schedule with Orlando’s WESH-TV, CBS4/Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times and Univision. Murphy proposed having a League of Women Voters debate and a Forum Club of the Palm Beaches forum.[49]
ABC News, "Florida Senate Debate 2016 II: Rubio vs. Murphy," October 27, 2016 |
During the second debate on October 27, 2016, the candidates again argued about their records and Donald Trump. Throughout the campaign and during the debate, Murphy repeatedly criticized Trump's policies and character and Rubio for not un-endorsing Trump. In response to Murphy’s criticism, Rubio replied, “This is now the fifth time. Basically, the answer to every question tonight by Congressman Murphy is Donald Trump.” Rubio also said that Murphy’s platform consisted of “a noun, a verb and Donald Trump.”[50]
The candidates also discussed the following issues: Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, the future of the Supreme Court, Syria, criminal justice, the minimum wage, and Cuba.[50]
Rubio said that the age to receive Social Security needed to be raised for people in their 40s in order to preserve the program. Rubio said, “For younger workers there’s going to have to be some smaller changes or it won’t exist."[50]
According to Politico, Murphy “said he supports raising the income level that's taxed for Social Security, or payroll tax. Incomes above $127,200 in 2017 will not pay any additional tax. The current cap is $118,500.”[50]
When asked about using ground troops in Syria to fight the Islamic State, Rubio said he would consider using ground troops if the administration developed a strong plan.[50]
Murphy said that he supported helping our allies fight ISIS in Syria and then went on to attack Trump. He accused Trump of wanting to break alliances with our allies. Murphy said, "You’ve got to be able to stand up to people like Donald Trump if you care about our national security.”[50]
Rubio replied by accusing “Murphy of misspeaking about the presence of Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, in Syria,” according to Politico.[50]
Rubio said, “Congressman there are no Pesh merga [sic] in Syria. The Peshmerga are Iraqi.”[50]
Murphy said, “Yes and they are helping us fight.”[50]
Rubio replied, “In Iraq, not in Syria. The Syrian Kurds, in fact, don’t get along with the Iraqi Kurds.” Rubio then criticized Hillary Clinton, noting that she was secretary of state when Syria began to destabilize.[50]
During the first debate on October 17, 2016, Rubio and Murphy repeatedly attacked each other. Rubio criticized Murphy for embellishing his academic and professional résumés and for his lack of accomplishment in the House of Representatives. Murphy criticized Rubio for missing votes in the Senate during his run for president and for supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.[51]
Rubio and Murphy discussed their positions on the Second Amendment and preventing terrorists from obtaining firearms, healthcare, and climate change, among other issues. The full debate can be viewed here.
Despite polling at 9 percent support, which was the percentage candidates needed to have to make the debate stage, Stanton was not invited by the debate organizers.[52][53][48]
Stanton commented his exclusion from the debate, saying, “For the record, I support the right of debate organizers to exclude me, even though it probably violates federal election law. That being said, the media and debate organizers will continue being complicit with the political establishment until we the people demand otherwise. I also support including the voices of the NPAswho are each polling much lower than me—in the debates as well.”[48]
According to The Palm Beach Free Press, “Even though his polling numbers in the PPP poll met the criteria laid out by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association—which chooses the candidates who will be invited—those entities disqualified the PPP polls and would not issue an invitation to Stanton.”[48]
In July 2016, Murphy was notified by the Federal Election Commission that it was investigating a complaint filed by the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, alleging that he accepted $24,000 in illegal contributions in 2011 during his campaign for Florida’s 18th Congressional District seat.[54]
According to The Hill, the complaint “claims that a donor and childhood friend of Murphy’s, Ibrahim Al-Rashid, avoided campaign contribution limits by using the names of employees and the parents of his then-partner as 'straw donors' when the money really came from the Al-Rashid family. … Ibrahim and his brother Ramzi, also named on the complaint, are the sons of a powerful, and politically-connected Saudi billionaire. Ibrahim Al-Rashid has been major financial benefactor of Murphy's, giving almost $400,000 to his campaigns and outside groups supporting Murphy since the Florida congressman first ran in 2012.”[54]
Joshua Karp, a spokesman for Murphy's campaign, said the complaint was “frivolous and unfounded. We expect the FEC to dismiss it in short order, as they do with hundreds of complaints filed by partisan political action committees every year.”[54]
On November 2, 2016, The Hill reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was also investigating whether Murphy accepted $24,000 in illegal contributions during his 2012 race for the House of Representatives. The Hill's reporters "found no evidence that Murphy himself was involved in, or even aware of, the alleged scheme. The Murphy campaign declined to say whether the candidate is aware of the FBI probe, but the campaign said neither Murphy nor his campaign staff is being investigated."[55]
Murphy's campaign released the following statement about the investigation: “This complaint was written by a Republican super PAC willing to say anything to elect Marco Rubio. Neither Patrick nor any current or past employees have ever been contacted regarding this matter, and we are confident an examination of the facts will result in its dismissal.”[55]
According to The Hill, “From July 6 to Aug. 4, Murphy’s team spent $52,805 on legal fees to two law firms,” which was “1,500 percent higher than the average amount Murphy's campaign spent for the previous 16 months.”[54]
Karp, Murphy’s spokesman, commented on the legal fees, saying that they were unrelated to the FEC investigation. Karp said, "These fees have nothing to do with that complaint. That complaint is frivolous and unfounded. Our recent legal expenses cover work performed back in May and earlier, and are not connected to the Senate Leadership Fund's complaint filed in June."[54]
It was unclear what the legal fees were used for. According to The Hill, some of the fees were paid to the law firm Miller & Chevalier, a firm “known for defending politicians who are dealing with congressional ethics allegations. Only four other candidates over the past two election cycles have hired Miller & Chevalier—Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Susie Lee, an unsuccessful candidate this year in a Democratic House primary in Nevada. Three of those four – Gutierrez, Chu, and Honda – faced ethics probes during the same period they hired Miller & Chevalier.”[54]
Although former 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R) said that he would not seek re-election, he announced on June 22, 2016, that he would try to retain his Senate seat after party leaders convinced him that he was the GOP's best shot at winning in November. U.S. Reps. David Jolly (R) and Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R) left the Senate race to clear the way for Rubio, making him the frontrunner in the primary election.[56][57]
Rubio defeated businessman Carlos Beruff (R), entrepreneur and Evangelical pastor Ernie Rivera (R), and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Dwight Mark Anthony Young (R) in the Republican primary election on August 30, 2016. A poll released by the St. Leo University Polling Institute on August 23, 2016, showed Rubio with a significant lead over his primary opponents. Among registered Republicans in Florida, Rubio had 68.2 percent support, and Beruff had 14.1 percent. Young and Rivera followed with 3.6 percent support and 2.6 percent support, respectively.[56][57][58][59][60]
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D) defeated U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D), attorney and former naval officer Pam Keith (D), businessman Roque De La Fuente (D), and attorney Reginald Luster (D) to win the Democratic nomination.[61][62][63][64][65]
Members of the Democratic Party establishment, including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, endorsed Murphy in the race instead of Grayson, a progressive firebrand who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders's presidential bid. In February 2016, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called on Grayson drop out of the race after the New York Times published a story about Grayson's actions as a hedge fund manager, which were the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation. Although the Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics wrote that "there is substantial reason to believe" Grayson violated congressional ethics rules by using his name in an offshore hedge fund, Grayson called the report “utterly frivolous” and “replete with amorphous catch-phrases like 'reason to believe.'" Grayson added, "It does not identify any instance where the OCE actually found an ethics violation, or any violation of law.”[66][67][68][69]
Politico reported that Murphy stopped running television ads to save money for the general election because he was confident that he would defeat Grayson in the primary. Murphy led Grayson 48 percent to 17 percent among registered Democrats in Florida, according to an August 23 St. Leo University Polling Institute poll.[70][60]
In the first-ever Florida Senate Libertarian primary election, voters chose Paul Stanton, an Army veteran who served six years in Iraq, over Augustus Sol Invictus, an attorney who "performed animal sacrifices as part of" his religion.[71][72][23]
While campaigning for president, Marco Rubio repeatedly said that he would not seek re-election and disparaged the upper chamber, calling it “dysfunctional.” After his bid for president failed and Republican leaders urged him to enter Florida’s Senate race, Rubio ultimately decided to run for re-election on June 22, 2016. Rubio said that his decision to run was based in part on the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees. He said, “No matter who’s elected president, there’s reason to worry. If it’s Hillary Clinton, you know we’re going to have four more years of the same failed economic policies, four more years of the same failed foreign policy. The prospect of a Trump presidency is also worrisome to me in many ways.” Rubio also said that if Trump was elected, he would “encourage him in the right direction, but if it’s necessary, stand up to him.”[56]
Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, said that Rubio was the GOP the best chance to keep Florida’s Senate seat and maintain control of the Senate. Law said, “There is literally one person in America who has the ability to dramatically increase the chances of Republicans keeping the majority — Marco Rubio. If Marco’s in for Florida, we’re in for Florida, it’s just that simple.”[56]
On May 26, 2016, after Rubio said that he would vote for Donald Trump, Trump encouraged Rubio to seek re-election, tweeting: “Poll data shows that @marcorubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!”[73][57]
Rumors of Rubio’s possible entry into the race lead U.S. Rep. David Jolly (R) to exit the race on June 17, 2016, the Friday before Rubio announced he would run for re-election. Jolly ran for re-election in Florida's 13th Congressional District.[56]
After Rubio’s June 22 announcement, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) left the race and ran for re-election in Florida's 6th Congressional District. Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R) also left the race, saying, “He’s [Rubio’s] doing this for the greater good. Before today, I was our best chance to keep the seat Republican. But if Marco runs then he’s our best chance. That’s more important.”[56]
Sarasota developer Carlos Beruff (R), however, decided to remain in the race. Beruff said in a statement, “Career politicians like Marco Rubio worry more about keeping the job than doing the job, and are constantly looking for their next political promotion.”[56]
Murphy and Grayson both criticized Rubio’s decision to enter the race and attacked him for missing votes while campaigning for president. Murphy said in a statement, “Marco Rubio abandoned his constituents, and now he’s treating them like a consolation prize. From missing the most votes of any Florida senator in nearly 50 years, to seeking to ban abortion even in cases of rape or incest, to repeatedly voting against closing the terrorist gun loophole, Rubio is proving he is only out for himself.” Mike Ceraso, Grayson’s campaign manager, criticized Rubio for missing votes, calling him, “No Show Marco.”[56]
While campaigning with Murphy in Miami, Vice President Joe Biden drew a contrast between Murphy and Grayson, without mentioning Grayson. He said, “This guy is the real deal. He understands the difference between being authentic and being caustic. He understands the difference between being straight and just being vicious.”[74]
CBS Miami, a local TV station, released a report on Patrick Murphy's past on June 22, 2016. The report questioned Murphy's claims of being a certified public accountant and small business owner.[8]
Murphy's campaign manager responded to the report in a statement saying, "CBS Miami’s deeply false story is completely inaccurate in several claims. Overnight there were already seven corrections to this story. In an effort to be as transparent as possible with proprietary corporate records, our campaign shared over 70 pages of corporate records with CBS Miami and submitted over 2,000 words of answers to questions. Almost none of the information we provided is reflected in CBS Miami’s deeply inaccurate reporting, which invents a story about Patrick’s life that is unrecognizable to anyone who knows him."[9]
Florida held its first-ever Libertarian Party U.S. Senate primary election on August 30, 2016. Paul Stanton defeated Augustus Sol Invictus.[75]
According to the Florida Division of Elections, the Libertarian Party has around 25,000 registered voters in Florida, which is 3,000 more than the party had in 2014.[75]
Libertarian Party of Florida chairperson Char-Lez Braden commented on the increase in registration for his party, saying that voters are “sick and tired of the business as usual that [they]’ve seen all over the country, not just in Washington, but in Tallahassee, and even at the county levels. And they know it doesn’t have to be that way.”[75]
Grayson received criticism for several hedge funds he had in the Cayman Islands, a well-known corporate tax haven. In October 2015, Grayson closed the funds, which he insisted were empty and had never been used. Grayson's office said of the move, "Until this year, the expense of the empty separate, segregated account (which was situated in the Caymans) was minor, i.e., less than $1000 in annual filing fees. This year, the expense would have increased substantially, so both the empty account and the corresponding legal entities have been closed."[76]
The New York Times released an article about Grayson's hedge funds on February 11, 2016. The article displayed an email correspondence between Grayson and his campaign manager. In the correspondence, his manager urged Grayson to close the fund, while Grayson argued that doing so would look like "an admission of wrongdoing."[77]
The House Ethics Committee acknowledged that it was looking into complaints about Grayson's hedge funds on February 22, 2016.[78]
After the New York Times published an article on Grayson's hedge funds, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D) urged Grayson to drop out of the race. Reid said in a statement, "Grayson claims to be a progressive, but it seems like he has no moral compass." He went on, "These deeply troubling allegations should disqualify anyone from a seat in the U.S. Senate."[67]
In response to Reid's remarks, Grayson said, "The reason why he is making such an absurd statement at all is that he knows that I’m well ahead in the polls and heading for a strong primary victory. Thank goodness that he will be gone from Washington, D.C., when I am sworn into the Senate. ... Sen. Reid may well prefer corrupt Establishment errand boy Patrick Murphy, who routinely sells his vote to Wall Street lobbyists."[67]
On July 26, 2016, Politico reported that Lolita Grayson, Alan Grayson's ex-wife, filed multiple reports from 1994 to 2014 accusing her former husband of abusing her. According to Politico, “Lolita Grayson called police on her husband at least two times in Virginia and two more times in Florida, sought medical attention on at least two occasions and said that, in one instance, he had threatened to kill her, according to a police report.”[79]
Alan Grayson denied all of the allegations of abuse and “asserted Lolita Grayson battered him in 2014.”[79]
Lolita Grayson said in an email to Politico, “I want the people to know my story so they know what kind of man Alan Grayson really is. … I requested the medical records and police records so people could read what doctors and police officers wrote. I read many of these records for the first time. These are very painful memories and horrible experiences.”[79]
Mark NeJame, Alan Grayson’s lawyer, responded to the accusations, saying, "Lolita is a disturbed woman. She has made one false allegation after another. Her own daughter refutes her. Moreover, there never has been a witness or any proof whatsoever of her claims. The claims have been so ridiculous that not one time has there even been enough probable cause to bring a charge or an arrest against Alan Grayson."[79]
Several top members of Grayson's staff, including his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, and senior adviser reportedly left the campaign in December 2015.[80]
On October 1, 2015, Florida’s Libertarian Party Chairman Adrian Wyllie resigned after the party’s executive committee declined to publicly disavow Augustus Sol Invictus’ candidacy. At the time, Invictus was the only Libertarian candidate in the race.[72]
In a Facebook post, Wyllie accused Invictus of promoting “Violent Fascist and Neo-Nazi ideologies.”[81]
During an interview with Politico, Wyllie discussed his post and his decision to resign, saying, “I resigned to draw attention to this, as a protest. I did this as a pre-emptive strike. I don’t want anyone to think this guy represents Libertarians. He doesn’t. Under the law, we can’t keep him from the ballot.”[72]
Invictus told Politico that “he does not support eugenics and forced abortions, contrary to Wyllie’s claims.” He added that, although he has represented members of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups as a lawyer, “he’s no racist.” Invictus said, “My four children are Hispanic.”[72]
In January 2016, Rep. David Jolly (R) announced that he would stop personally fundraising for his Senate campaign. He argued that members of Congress spend too much time fundraising and not enough time focusing on doing their jobs as elected officials. Jolly even introduced legislation that would prohibit members of Congress from personally raising money.[82]
As a result of this legislation, Jolly appeared on an episode of 60 Minutes which aired on April 24, 2016. Jolly described the fundraising process for members of Congress on the show. Jolly said, "We sat behind closed doors at one of the party headquarter back rooms in front of a white board where the equation was drawn out. You have six months until the election. Break that down to having to raise $2 million in the next six months. And your job, new member of Congress, is to raise $18,000 a day. Your first responsibility is to make sure you hit $18,000 a day." In addition, an anonymous staffer helped the program get inside the Republican fundraising center with a hidden camera.[82]
In response to Jolly's television appearance, the NRCC wrote a letter to 60 Minutes discounting Jolly's claims. The letter stated that "Jolly describes a meeting with the NRCC where he was told he was required to raise $18,000 each day through fundraising calls. Simply put, this meeting never happened. It is a work of fiction." The letter also accused 60 Minutes of trespassing.[83]
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) was considered one of the top Democratic candidates to run for the Senate seat. However, she announced on March 17, 2015, that she would not seek the Senate seat and would instead run for re-election to the House. She said, "I will be running for reelection to the United States House of Representatives and serving my full four-year term that President Obama has asked me to serve as chair of the DNC."[84]
As healthcare premiums rose, the future of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, became a central issue in the Senate race. According to The Miami Herald, “Insurers are raising the 2017 premiums for a popular and significant group of health plans sold through HealthCare.gov by an average of 25 percent, more than triple the increase for this year, according to new government figures.”[85] Rubio proposed repealing and replace the ACA, while Murphy proposed fixing it.
During the debate on October 17, 2016, Rubio criticized the ACA. He said, “Well, I would just say that to say that the Obamacare has some problems would be the equivalent to saying the Titanic has some problems. It has enormous problems. Number 1, running up our debt. Number two, people are losing their coverage. In about three weeks, over half a million Floridians are going to lose their coverage again. It's collapsing under its own weight because it doesn't work. By the way, one of the things I'm proudest of is I led an effort to defund a bailout fund that they had built into Obamacare. They had put into Obamacare a fund where they were going to use your taxpayer money to bail out private insurance companies who lost money under Obamacare and I prevented that from happening."[86]
The debate moderator then criticized Rubio for not being able to lower the uninsured rate while he was in the Florida legislature.[86]
Rubio responded by blaming the governor for undermining the solutions that the legislature developed to address the problem. He added that he offered a plan to replace the ACA. He said, “Every American will either have tax‑free money from their employer to buy health insurance. They will be provided health insurance from their employee, or they will have a refundable tax credit to purchase health insurance from any company they want in America across state lines.”[86]
During the debate on October 17, 2016, Murphy said that he wanted to fix the ACA, and then he attacked Rubio for wanting to replace the healthcare law. Murphy said, “Well, the affordable care act [sic] was a huge step forward for our country, but it's not perfect, and there's many things that we have to do to improve it, and that's exactly what I've spent my time in the congress [sic] trying to do is find those moderate reforms to improve the affordable care act [sic], and you think of my opponent, Senator Marco Rubio, right, who has spent the last six years in the senate [sic] trying to undermine that legislation. You see, he wants to take us back to the days where women could be charged more than men just for being women, where insurance companies could deny you coverage if you had a preexisting condition, where insurance companies could drop you if you got sick. … I believe there are some common sense reforms we can make. I think expanding Medicaid, that would be 900,000 people in Florida alone that would have access to healthcare, but you've gotta be willing to work across the aisle to find that common ground.”[86]
During the debate on October 17, 2016, Rubio and Murphy were asked about rising sea levels in Florida.[86]
Rubio explained his approach to dealing with problems associated with climate change without harming the economy in the following statement: “I am 100 percent in favor of mitigation. If, in fact, sea levels are rising and they're impacting our communities, we should spend money to mitigate that. I have a history of working on those issues going back to the Florida Legislature when I was speaker and we funded millions of dollars in water projects to prevent flooding. The community I live in in West Miami used to flood severely. Today it floods less so. Here's the only thing I've said: I've said that as a policy maker, you have to show me whether the laws that you want me to pass will actually impact the issue that you are raising. And so I have people come to me and say we want you to pass these laws on carbon emissions and I asked them, well, how many inches of sea rise will it prevent, and they say well, none, but it will set a good example for the world. And then I ask the economist, how many jobs will this destroy? How much would it increase the cost of living? And they say pretty dramatically. So they're asking me to support policies that will have no impact on the environment, since china [sic] is more than making up for any carbon cuts we would do, but it's going to have a devastating impact on our economy? That's not the approach I want to take. Here's the better approach. Number one, mitigation. Number two, I do want this nation to have an all of the above energy strategy. That includes wind and solar and biofuels and renewables. I just think it's irresponsible not to also say we're going to fully utilize natural gas and oil and nuclear energy, and, yes, clean coal technology has a place in it as well. We should have the broadest, most diverse energy subset possible.”[86]
Murphy responded by criticizing Rubio for denying science in the following statement: “National Geographic named Miami as the number one city in the world to be impacted by climate change. Senator Rubio said that he's not a scientist. Senator, you don't need to be a scientist. Look out your window, right? There's two or three inches of salt water on the roads right now. They were not built under water. Go down to the Florida Keys. The reefs are dying from acidification and bleaching. Come to my district. You'll see the algae. You'll see what's happening there. It's the most biologically diverse estuary in the whole country. Go to the panhandle. You'll see the oyster beds dying. Everywhere I go in Florida I see the effects of this. Senator Rubio denies science.”[86]
The following issues were listed on Rubio's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
“ |
|
” |
—Marco Rubio's campaign website, https://marcorubio.com/issues/ |
The following issues were listed on Murphy's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
“ |
|
” |
—Patrick Murphy's campaign website, https://www.murphyforflorida.com/vision/ |
The following issues were listed on Stanton's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
“ |
|
” |
—Paul Stanton's campaign website, http://stanton2016.com/solutions.html |
Cleveland.com, "Marco Rubio addresses the RNC," June 20, 2016. |
On April 21, 2016, Rubio reiterated his promise to support the Republican nominee. He said, "I've always said I'm going to support the Republican nominee, and that's especially true now that it's apparent that Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic candidate. ... My differences with Donald Trump are well documented, and obviously we had 12 months to talk about those. I'm not saying he's going to be the nominee. We don't know that yet ... but Hillary Clinton would be a disaster for America. She really would. I think she's got a lot of ethical questions surrounding her campaign. I think she was not a very good secretary of state, and, quite frankly, she's a candidate that looks backwards. America needs to turn the page and move towards the future."[88]
Rubio fulfilled his promise and endorsed Donald Trump in the video played at the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016. Rubio said, “Hillary Clinton does not have the honesty, the courage or the independence to be the president we need for the next four years after the president we've had for the past eight. But unlike Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is committed to cut taxes, curb spending and get our national debt under control. Unlike Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump takes seriously the threats from Islamic radicals and is committed to rebuilding our military. And unlike Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, he is committed to appointing constitutionalist judges, who will respect the proper role of the judiciary. After a long and spirited primary, the time for fighting each other is over. It’s time to come together and fight for a new direction for America. It's time to win in November.”[89][90]
On August 12, 2015, Murphy endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. In an email, Murphy's campaign wrote, “Patrick and Team Murphy are proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for president. Both Patrick and Hillary believe that we can work together to build a better economy for tomorrow and strengthen our middle class. And as excited as we are about a possible President Hillary Clinton, we’re even more pumped about a possible Senator Patrick Murphy.”[91]
During an interview, Murphy was asked if he trusted Clinton. He replied, "[Y]es, I do." According to CNN, “[P]olls show most Floridians distrust the former secretary of state.”[7]
Rubio criticized Murphy for his comments, saying, “Yesterday he [Murphy] said Hillary Clinton is someone who’s trustworthy, which puts him in a very small minority of Americans who believe that. He would be a rubber stamp for, God forbid, a Clinton presidency.”[6]
During an interview on August 30, 2016, Stanton said that he was flattered to earn the support of Libertarian leaders, including Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld. He also explained his history of supporting Johnson. He said, “It’s deeply flattering. It really is. Some of these people are personal heroes of mine. I’ve supported them in their endeavors and now they’re supporting me in mine. And it’s a big responsibility. I of course need to keep true to the message, the message of liberty. And I need to ensure that the endorsement wasn’t made in vain. It’s sort of amazing to think that I voted for Johnson and Gray in 2012 for President of the United State, and now they’re behind me. They’re all wonderful people.”[46]
Grayson endorsed Bernie Sanders for president on February 29, 2016. He wrote, "I hereby endorse Bernie Sanders to be our Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I will vote for him as a Super-delegate at the Democratic National Convention. And I enthusiastically join, shoulder to shoulder, his political revolution. ... Bernie Sanders and I share a goal of building a grassroots movement of people who want to take back our country from the billionaires and the multinational corporations. We want to make elections into something different: Not the lesser of two evils, but the greater good."[92]
Florida Senate - Marco Rubio vs. Patrick Murphy | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Poll | Marco Rubio | Patrick Murphy | Margin of Error | Sample Size | |||||||||||||||
CBS News/YouGov October 20-21, 2016 | 44% | 42% | +/-3.6 | 1,042 | |||||||||||||||
FOX 13/Opinion Savvy October 20, 2016 | 46% | 46% | +/-4.2 | 538 | |||||||||||||||
Quinnipiac University October 10-16, 2016 | 49% | 47% | +/-3.8 | 660 | |||||||||||||||
Public Policy Polling October 12-13, 2016 | 48% | 43% | +/-3.1 | 985 | |||||||||||||||
Gravis Marketing October 11-13, 2016 | 44% | 36% | +/-2.3 | 1,799 | |||||||||||||||
Opinion Savvy October 10-11, 2016 | 48% | 44% | +/-4.2 | 533 | |||||||||||||||
NBC/WSJ/Marist October 3-5, 2016 | 48% | 46% | +/-3.7 | 700 | |||||||||||||||
Gravis Marketing October 4, 2016 | 44% | 40% | +/-3.4 | 821 | |||||||||||||||
Emerson College October 2-4, 2016 | 47% | 39% | +/-3.9 | 600 | |||||||||||||||
Quinnipiac University September 27-October 2, 2016 | 48% | 44% | +/-4.2 | 545 | |||||||||||||||
FOX 13/Opinion Savvy September 28-29, 2016 | 47% | 43% | +/-4.0 | 619 | |||||||||||||||
Florida Chamber of Commerce September 15-20, 2016 | 46% | 42% | +/-4.0 | 617 | |||||||||||||||
Suffolk University September 19-21, 2016 | 43% | 34% | +/-4.4 | 500 | |||||||||||||||
Monmouth University September 16-19, 2016 | 47% | 45% | +/-4.9 | 400 | |||||||||||||||
New York Times/Siena College September 10-14, 2016 | 48% | 42% | +/-3.3 | 867 | |||||||||||||||
CCN/ORC September 7-12, 2016 | 54% | 43% | +/-3.5 | 788 | |||||||||||||||
JMC Analytics September 7-8, 2016 | 43% | 38% | +/-3.5 | 781 | |||||||||||||||
Quinnipiac University August 31-September 7, 2016 | 50% | 43% | +/-4.0 | 601 | |||||||||||||||
Public Policy Polling September 4-6, 2016 | 40% | 37% | +/-3.6 | 744 | |||||||||||||||
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DeSantis released his first primary ad on March 3, 2016.
|
|
The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Presidential elections have a significant impact on congressional elections, the most obvious of which is increased voter interest and participation. In the last two decades, presidential elections have led to roughly 15 to 20 percent higher turnout rates than in the corresponding midterm elections.[116] The following chart shows the disparity between voter turnout in presidential elections and midterms.
In the past decade, presidential elections have benefited the Democratic Party, while midterms have helped Republicans. The Democratic Party gained an average of 5 Senate seats in the last two presidential elections, and the Republican Party picked up an average of 7.5 seats in the last two midterms.[117] The fact that 2016 was a presidential election cycle was a cause of increased Republican vulnerability in the Senate.
On November 6, 2012, Bill Nelson won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Connie Mack (R), Bill Gaylor (I), and Chris Borgia (I) in the general election.
U.S. Senate, Florida General Election, 2012 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democratic | Bill Nelson Incumbent | 55.2% | 4,523,451 | |
Republican | Connie Mack | 42.2% | 3,458,267 | |
Independent | Bill Gaylor | 1.5% | 126,079 | |
Independent | Chris Borgia | 1% | 82,089 | |
N/A | Write-ins | 0% | 60 | |
Total Votes | 8,189,946 | |||
Source: Florida Election Watch "U.S. Senator" |
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won election to the United States Senate. He defeated Kendrick B. Meek (D), Alexander Andrew Snitker (L), Bernie DeCastro (I), Charlie Crist (I), Sue Askeland (I), Rick Tyler (I), Lewis Jerome Armstrong (I), Bobbie Bean (I), Bruce Ray Riggs (I), Piotr Blass (I), Richard Lock (I), Belinda Gail Quarterman-Noah (I), Geroge Drake (I), Robert Monroe (I), Howard Knepper (I) and Carol Ann Joyce LaRose (I) in the general election.[118]
The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Florida in 2016.
Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Deadline | Event type | Event description | |
January 11, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
February 10, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
March 10, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
March 15, 2016 | Election date | Presidential primary election | |
April 4, 2016 | Ballot access | Deadline for judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates qualifying by petition to submit completed petitions to supervisors of elections | |
April 11, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
May 2, 2016 | Ballot access | Qualifying period for judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates begins | |
May 6, 2016 | Ballot access | Qualifying period for judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates ends | |
May 10, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
May 23, 2016 | Ballot access | Deadline for federal, state representative, state senate, county office and special district candidates qualifying by petition to submit completed petitions to supervisors of elections | |
June 10, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
June 20, 2016 | Ballot access | Qualifying period for federal, state representative, state senate, county office and special district candidates begins | |
June 24, 2016 | Ballot access | Qualifying period for federal, state representative, state senate, county office and special district candidates ends | |
July 1, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
July 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
July 29, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
August 4, 2016 | Campaign finance | Termination report due, if applicable | |
August 5, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
August 12, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
August 19, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
August 26, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
August 30, 2016 | Election date | Primary election | |
September 9, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
September 22, 2016 | Campaign finance | Termination report due, if applicable | |
September 23, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
October 7, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
October 14, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
October 21, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
October 28, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
November 4, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election | |
November 28, 2016 | Campaign finance | Termination report due, if applicable | |
February 6, 2017 | Campaign finance | Termination report due, if applicable | |
Sources: Florida Division of Elections, "2015-2017 Election Dates Calendar," June 4, 2015 Florida Division of Elections, "Calendar of Reporting Dates for 2016 Candidates Registered with the Division of Elections," accessed January 11, 2016 |
<ref>
tag;
no text was provided for refs named minutes60
|
For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!