MIAMI, FL — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, announced its endorsement of former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for the U.S. Senate. Having previously served as Representative for Florida 26th Congressional district, Mucarsel-Powell is vying to be just the second woman elected to represent the Sunshine State in the Senate.

With this endorsement, HRC will work to activate statewide volunteers, mobilize LGBTQ+ communities, and turn out the state’s over 4 million Equality Voters.

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson released the following statement:

“For years, Rick Scott has chosen his own greed and lust for power over the wellbeing of Floridians. It is high time the Sunshine State had the representation it deserves in the Senate. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has spent her life as a champion for access to affordable health care, expanded economic opportunities, equality for all, and has been a crucial leader in the fight to end the scourge of gun violence in America. As Senator, she will be the kind of leader all Floridians deserve: driven by the power of what’s possible when we put people over politics.”

U.S. Senate Candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell shared the following statement:

“I am so grateful to the Human Rights Campaign for their unwavering support, especially at a time where Floridians’ rights and our LGBTQ+ community are under attack by extremists like Rick Scott, who want control over every single aspect of our lives. Florida has been ground zero for attacks on democracy and equal rights, but instead of doing what’s right for our communities, Rick Scott proudly stands with the radical state legislators launching these vile attacks and terrorizing our LGBTQ+ residents. I want to thank HRC for standing with me in this crucial battle to protect our rights. I will never stop fighting for our LGBTQ+ community and for Floridians’ fundamental freedoms.”

In her tenure during the 116th Congress, Mucarsel-Powell was a champion for her district, authoring the bill to expand Medicare Advantage coverage for seniors and working in a bipartisan coalition to provide economic relief to families and small businesses. She was a co-sponsor of the Equality Act, legislation that would provide consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people across key areas of life. During her tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mucarsel-Powell earned a 100% on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard, signifying that she supported key legislation that HRC sees as essential to promoting equality.

Upon leaving Congress, Mucarsel-Powell became a Senior Advisor at Giffords, a gun violence prevention organization launched by former Congresswoman and gun violence survivor Gabrielle Giffords. In that role, Mucarsel-Powell helped mobilize voters across America in support of candidates willing to champion gun safety legislation.

Meanwhile, her Republican opponent, incumbent-Senator and Trump acolyte Rick Scott, has built a career on anti-equality, self-serving extremism and greed. Scott entered politics after a scandal-ridden business career that saw Columbia/HCA fined $1.7 billion for defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs during his tenure as its chief executive. Senator Scott has signaled his support for bans on abortion and penned a MAGA manifesto in 2022 that laid out plans to restrict access to gender-affirming care, ban transgender youth from participating in sports nationally, and deny the very existence of transgender people.

HRC’s Commitment to Florida

Equality Voters, including the over 4 million in Florida, are a voting bloc of demographically and geographically diverse Americans who are united by the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality. Equality Voters are younger, more racially diverse, and more female than the general electorate; they recognize and trust the HRC brand and are more likely to identify with issue-specific organizations than candidates or political parties. HRC will work to mobilize and energize Equality Voters in Florida to propel Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to victory in 2024.

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