Thread: Key Florida Senate Race Is Set: It's Rubio Vs. Murphy

Key Florida Senate Race Is Set: It's Rubio Vs. Murphy

August 30, 20168:11 PM ET

DOMENICO MONTANARO
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POLITICS

Marco Rubio Reverses Course, Will Run For Re-Election To Senate


Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., again won his party's nomination in the key Florida Senate race.

Lynne Sladky/AP

A key Senate race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate is now set. And it's in the all-important state of Florida.

In the first results of Tuesday's Florida and Arizona House and Senate primaries, incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democrat Patrick Murphy easily won their respective parties' nominations.

With 40 percent of the vote in, Rubio won was up 71-20 percent over Carlos Beruff, a wealthy developer who ran in the mold of Donald Trump and poured in $8 million of his own money into the race. Congressman Murphy also appears to have easily dispatched of Rep. Alan Grayson. With 40 percent of the vote in, he was up 59-18 percent.

Rubio had promised not to seek reelection, but after his failed presidential run, he reconsidered. It was a top pick-up opportunity for Democrats in their quest to take back the Senate — until Rubio was convinced to reverse course. He decided two days before the filing deadline to get back in.

That happened to be the same day a local CBS Miami affiliate published a bombshell report about Murphy's past. It showed the 33-year-old, whose father owns a multimillion-dollar construction company, embellished his business record and academic credentials.

Despite all that, the Democratic establishment worked for Murphy over Grayson. That's because Grayson's problems ranged from having a fund set up in the Cayman Islands in order to solicit funds from foreign investors to his ex-wife accusing him of domestic abuse.

Grayson was hoping he wouldn't be straying too far from Capitol Hill. His new wife, Dena Grayson, whom he married in May, is contesting for her husband's congressional seat.

But with 76 percent of the vote in, she was down 37-28 percent.

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/30/492019...ubio-vs-murphy

Florida Senate Primaries 8/30/16