Challenged by Demings, Florida’s Rubio seeks 3rd Senate term

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is seeking a third term and facing Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings as the GOP tries to take back control of the narrowly divided Senate. Rubio had relatively easy paths to his first two Senate victories. This year he faces Demings, a third-term congresswoman who prominently features her background as a police officer and Orlando’s first female police chief. If she wins, she would be Florida’s first Black senator. Rubio has run a campaign pulled from the Republican playbook, tying Demings to President Joe Biden and hammering her on issues such as spending, rising inflation and a crisis at the southern border.