BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — Republican incumbent Rick Scott, who just finished his first six-year term, has been re-elected as U.S. Senator.
He was being challenged by four other candidates, with his greatest contender being Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
As of 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, Scott has secured just over 55% of votes, while Mucarsel-Powell achieved just over 42%.
WPTV Reporter Kate Hussey was in Bonita Springs, Florida, at Scott's watch party where crowds of supporters chanted Scott's name as he came on stage to celebrate his victory.
"This was a team win," Scott told the cheering crowd. "We won, they lost."
The win comes after an expensive and contentious race.
Scott spent more than $39.5 million of the more than $40 million he raised campaigning, and Scott, in political ads, called Powell a "silly socialist" and on his website calls her "delusional Debbie."
Powell fired back, accusing the former government of trying to take away freedoms due to his opposition of Amendment 4 and his 2022 law that critics said could have ended Social Security and Medicare.
Scott, who opposed both Amendments 3 and 4, strongly refutes claims that he's trying to end the federal programs, and told voters he's focused on getting taxpayers back their dollars by limiting government spending.
Scott has also told voters he's got eyes on Senate leadership if he wins, and hopes to replace current Senate minority leader Mitch McConell as the new Republican leader in the Senate.
He made that clear once again in his victory speech.
“Our work is not done. Next week we have another election, Senate Republican week," said Scott. “Two years ago I challenged Mitch McConnell because I knew there had to be a change. We have a great Republican party across this country. We need a Republican party in D.C."
Scott campaigned on multiple platforms, launching what he calls his "12-point Rescue America Plan," which focused on education, securing the border, and the economy.
Leading up to the election, he told voters he will work to get money back to taxpayers. He said he's determined to fight inflation and condemned government spending he called "reckless."
Voters have made it clear in recent polls the economy and inflation are the two top issues most important to them this election.
"And we won Miami-Dade!" said Powell to his cheering supporters.
Cutting back on government spending also garnered the incumbent criticism on both sides of the aisle, however.
In 2022, Scott proposed a broad policyt plan that allowed the federal government to end social security and medicare by requiring all fedreal legislation to expire every five years, unless congress decided to renew them.
Scott received mounting criticism from both democrats and his own party members, and in reaction the Senator agreed to exclude social security and medicare from the list of programs that would expire.
Despite Mucarsel-Powell claimed in her political ads and on her campaign website that Scott is trying to end those federal programs, but the U.S. Senator has adamantly refuted those claims.
Leading into the election, recent polls from NBC affiliates showed 48% of Florida voters said they would vote for Scott, while 41% said they would vote for Powell.
Scott, a former governor who served two terms from 2011 to 2019, won both of those races with less than 50% of the vote.
When he won his first Senate term in 2018, he needed a 12-day recount before declaring victory, and secured just 0.2% of the votes: 10,000 of the eight million cast.
Since 2020, however, supervisor of elections data shows Florida hs gained more than 900,000 registered republican voters.
In 2020, there were approximately 97,000 more registered republicans than democrats.
Now, the republican party has 1,000,000 more registered voters than registered democrats.
