Stephanie Murphy has sprung a surprise by deciding not to challenge Marco Rubio, Republican Senator for the seat in 2022. She has decided to instead go for reelection in the House.
Her decision comes immediately after Val Demings, a Florida Democrat from her state, said she was up for contesting against Senator Rubio. Stephanie Murphy’s decision avoids a fierce primary even before a tough and expensive final round against Senator Rubio.
Stephanie Murphy made a statement letting out her plans. She could be on the run for statewide office in the near future. She has promised all she can to help Florida Democrats in regaining electoral success in the state. The Republicans have controlled state elections for over a decade. It was back in 2012 that a Democrat represented the Senate from Florida.
Frequent Close Calls, Says Stephanie Murphy
Stephanie Murphy said that they had lost narrowly quite often and she wanted to utilize her experience in winning tough fights to help her party prepare for 2022. She referred to both Senator Rubio and Rick Scott, who will fight for a 2024 re-election.
She also let out that she was seriously considering running for the Senate in 2022 or 2024.
She acknowledged that fighting a primary election would not work to the Democrats’ advantage and would put them in a precarious position.
She said that the Democrats needed to concentrate on building the infrastructure instead of spending millions on fighting each other.
Her camp told CNN of her plans to go in for re-election. It was the key to the Democratic Party’s hopes of holding on to their majority in the House. Florida is getting a congressional seat post the census in 2020. The redistricting will be in the hands of the Republicans and there is a serious concern for the Democrats that Stephanie Murphy’s district could see a major shift.