Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is stepping back into a familiar role of handling natural disasters as Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida’s west coast.
No stranger to hurricanes as a former two-term governor in the Sunshine State, Scott has traded the campaign trail in the final weeks of his reelection fight in exchange for life-or-death warnings to residents about fleeing evacuation zones.
“You’re going to make a choice whether you live or die,” Scott warned Tuesday after receiving an update from the National Hurricane Center with Sarasota County officials, an area that could be hit directly. “You’re going to make a choice whether your child lives or dies or your spouse or your parents.”
Politicians’ handling of natural disasters can make or break their candidacies, particularly in the final stretch of a campaign. Scott’s years of experience managing them at the state level allow him to set himself apart at a crucial time from his challenger, former Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat.
Scott is locked in a competitive reelection bid for a second term in a once-purple state, and Democrats see this cycle as a pickup opportunity.
Hurricane Milton is projected to pummel the Tampa Bay region late Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, with winds nearing 130 mph and catastrophic storm surge for hundreds of miles of coastland. Its projected devastation, which comes in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s deadly floodwaters in the same region and across several other states, could disrupt the 2024 elections.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) avoided President Joe Biden’s visit last week to tour Helene-ravaged areas in northwestern Florida, known as the Big Bend, but Scott did not.
Although a constant critic of Biden, Scott joined the president and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at a stop in Keaton Beach to view the aftermath. Scott has requested that the White House make block grants available from the agency to respond more swiftly.
When Hurricane Idalia devastated the same Big Bend region in 2023, Scott also met with Biden in Florida when DeSantis did not.
“Sen. Scott is focused on three things: making sure communities are prepared, keeping every Floridian alive, and forcing the federal government to show up with immediate assistance every day until Florida families and businesses are fully recovered,” Scott campaign spokesman Will Hampson told the Washington Examiner. “With eight years as Florida’s governor and nearly six in the U.S. Senate, he has the relationships at the local, state, and federal level to bring people together, solve problems, and get things done.”
More recently, Scott has expressed concerns to the White House about federal resources to help resume post-storm operations at Port Tampa Bay and met with state and local officials, including lawmakers, law enforcement, and emergency management leaders, on preparedness efforts. According to Scott’s office, he’s also received briefings from National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan.
“When I was governor, my goal was nobody dies,” Scott said Tuesday as he urged for evacuations before reflecting on Hurricane Ian in 2022, which was blamed for killing around 150 people. “Not one person should’ve died with Ian.”
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Mucarsel-Powell recently campaigned in South Florida, which she represented as a congresswoman, and that is outside Milton’s direct path. She called on election officials to extend Florida’s voter registration deadline due to Helene and Milton.
“Public safety has to be the priority, and Floridians shouldn’t have to choose between preparing for another storm and making sure their voice will be heard this November,” Mucarsel-Powell said in a press release before Monday’s voter registration deadline.