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Rick Scott Opponent Drops Out Of Senate Race To Challenge Vulnerable GOP Congressman

House Lawmakers Work Towards Electing New Speaker On Capitol Hill

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A Democratic opponent of Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida in the state’s 2024 election has withdrawn from the race to challenge a Republican member of the House of Representatives, instead.

Phil Ehr, a U.S. Navy veteran and former Democratic candidate against Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida in 2020, announced Wednesday that he would run to challenge Republican Rep. Carlos Giménez of Florida. Ehr’s withdrawal makes former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida the favorite in a crowded field to win the primary, according to polling. (RELATED: Police Arrest Son Of Rep. Carlos Gimenez For Allegedly Slapping Miami Official At Steakhouse)

“I am running to represent the people of South Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys with integrity. The incumbent joined MAGA extremists in creating dysfunction and chaos in Congress,” wrote Ehr in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“Carlos Gimenez has failed Floridians. That’s why, I am announcing my campaign to defeat Gimenez and flip Florida’s 28th Congressional District blue,” Ehr noted in his statement. He had originally announced his campaign to defeat Scott on July 17.

“We have in the House of Representatives chaos that is damaging America, chaos that is preventing us from being able to respond overseas,” Ehr added in a comment to Politico’s Playbook.

Giménez has been a holdout in the effort by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He voted for Kevin McCarthy during Tuesday’s election for the position, despite McCarthy’s support for Jordan, denying House Republicans the 217 votes they need to elect a speaker.

“We need to empower our Speaker Pro-Tempore, Republican Patrick McHenry, and get on with the business of the American people while the @HouseGOP decides who the next Speaker should be,” Giménez wrote on Twitter, taking a position that some House Republicans have, so far, declined to pursue.

Giménez’s district represents the entire southern peninsula of Florida below Miami, including the Everglades and the Florida Keys. It has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+2, with Hispanic and Latino residents comprising 72.1% of the population.

Ehr, prior to his congressional challenges, established a non-profit organization known as the George Washington Initiative, which seeks to “correct misinformation,” according to his webpage on LinkedIn.

Giménez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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