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Rick Scott wins U.S. Senate seat, defeats Debbie Mucarsel-Powell

Published  November 5, 2024 8:09pm EST
2024 Election
FOX 35 Orlando

Sen. Rick Scott has won his reelection bid for U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

Scott was elected to the Senate in 2018. 

Before becoming a Senator, Scott served two terms as Florida’s governor. 

Without having any political experience, Scott defeated Democrat Alex Sink in the 2010 election when Republican-turned-Independent incumbent Governor Charlie Crist chose not to run for a second term because he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Senate. 

In 2014, Scott was re-elected as the governor, beating Crist who decided to run as a Democrat. 

Four years later he narrowly defeated incumbent Senator Bill Nelson in the closest Senate race in Florida’s history. 

Scott, a businessman by trade, co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation, which later merged with HCA (Hospital Corporation of America).

He was forced to resign after Columbia/HCA was investigated for fraud to Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs. Columbia/HCA ended up paying nearly $2 billion in fines though Scott was not charged with any crimes. 

According to Scott’s online senate biography, the unemployment rate dropped from 11 percent to 3.3 percent while he was governor.  

Scott, a businessman by trade, co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation, which later merged with HCA (Hospital Corporation of America).

He was forced to resign after Columbia/HCA was investigated for fraud to Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs. Columbia/HCA ended up paying nearly $2 billion in fines though Scott was not charged with any crimes. 

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Though Scott initially opposed plans to expand Medicaid in Florida under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, he later supported a three-year trial expansion, which was ultimately shot down by the Republican-led legislature in 2015. 

A month after the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, Scott signed a bill to raise the minimum age to purchase guns to 21 and established a three-day waiting period to buy a gun. 

Scott tried unsuccessfully to replace Senator Mitch McConnell as the Senate Republican leader. 

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