Who will take on Rick Scott in Senate election, and what local U.S. House races look like

The 2024 federal elections in Florida are set.

A noon deadline came and went on Friday for federal candidates to qualify for the state’s August primary ballot. While many hopefuls for the U.S. House and Senate have already been on the trail for months, the end of the state’s qualifying period marks the official start of campaign season in Florida.

Here are the federal races that South Floridians should keep an eye on for 2024:

U.S Senate

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is seeking a second term in the Senate after eking out a narrow victory six years ago over Democratic former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

The former Florida governor is facing primary challenges from two other Republicans – Keith Gross and John Columbus – who qualified for the race ahead of the Friday deadline, though Scott is heavily favored to win the GOP nomination.

For now, at least, Scott appears likely to face Democratic former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in the November election. The former congresswoman represented a vast swath of South Florida for a single term before losing reelection in 2020 to U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the former Miami-Dade County mayor.

Still, she’s considered the front-runner for the Democratic Senate nod in Florida. President Joe Biden threw his support behind Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign this week, calling her Florida’s “next U.S. senator” during a Tuesday visit to Tampa.

Of course, Mucarsel-Powell will have to get through the August primary first. Among the other Democrats seeking to challenge Scott in November: businessman Stanley Campbell, former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, former state House Majority Whip Brian Rush and former state House candidate Rod Joseph.

Winners of the GOP and Democratic primaries will also have to take on Feena Bonoan from the Libertarian Party; Shantele Renee Bennett, Ben Everidge and Tuan “TQ” Nguyen, who are not affiliated with any party; and one write-in candidate– Howard Knepper.

District 20

For weeks, Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, the Miami rapper and activist, teased the idea of challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in a primary. He established a political action committee and even filed his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.

But he failed to qualify with the Florida Division of Elections before the noon deadline on Friday, ending speculation about his candidacy and leaving Cherfilus-McCormick unopposed.

Florida’s 20th congressional district, which spans much of Broward County and parts of Palm Beach County, is one of only two majority-Black districts in Florida, and it leans heavily Democratic.

No Republican candidate qualified to run for the seat. That means that Cherfilus-McCormick will get a second full term in the U.S. House.

District 23

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is looking to take on a second term in Congress representing this Broward County-based district.

Moskowitz, a former Florida state representative who also served two years as the state’s emergency management director under Gov. Ron DeSantis, isn’t facing a primary challenger this year, making him the Democratic nominee by default.

Still, on the Republican side, there are a handful of candidates who have qualified to run, including Robert Weinroth, an ex-Palm Beach County commissioner and former Democrat who endorsed Moskowitz for Congress in 2022.

There’s also Carla Spalding, who previously challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz twice before.

The other GOP candidates who have qualified include insurance agency owner Darlene Cerezo Swaffar, Joe Thelusca, Joe Kaufman and Gary Barve.

District 24

In District 24, the long-standing Democrat that represents the area, Frederica Wilson, is aiming to secure her eighth consecutive term.

Wilson has served in Congress since 2011 representing District 24, which includes sections of the northwest Miami-Dade, including Opa-locka and Miami Gardens. Wilson previously served in the Florida House from 1998 to 2002 and then was a member of the Florida Senate from 2002 to 2010.

While Wilson faces no opposition from Democratic candidates and is the favored winner for this race, two Republican candidates that previously ran against Wilson are taking another shot at unseating her.

Jesus Navarro, who won the GOP primary and then lost to Wilson in 2022, and Patricia Gonzalez have both met the qualification deadline. Gonzalez also ran for Congress in District 24 in 2022 but dropped out of the race before the GOP primary.

Lavern Spicer, who ran against Wilson as a Republican candidate in 2020 and then ran again in 2022 but lost in the GOP primary against Navarro, is running as a write-in candidate.

District 25

Similar to District 24, in District 25 another long-standing incumbent is looking to claim their seat once again. Democratic U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz is running for her 11th term in her district, which encompasses the southern portion of Broward County.

Wasserman Schultz first assumed office in Congress in 2005. Before that, she served in the Florida House, the state Senate and was also the chair for the Democratic National Committee from 2011 to 2016.

She faces Democratic challenger Jennifer Perelman, an attorney who ran against Wasserman Schultz in 2020.

Three Republican candidates are also looking to unseat Wasserman Schultz. Chris Eddy, Bryan Leib, and Rubin Young have all qualified for the race and would face off in the GOP primary.

One write-in candidate, Eddie Goldfarb, also met the qualifying deadline.

District 26

Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart is set to face off against fellow Republicans Richard Evans and Johnny Fratto in the August primary, while Democrat Joey Atkins will stand as the lone Democrat seeking to oust Diaz-Balart this year.

But taking out Diaz-Balart will be an uphill battle. He has served in public office for more than three decades, and currently represents a heavily Republican congressional district that includes Hialeah, Doral and most of Collier County.

He won reelection in 2022 by more than 40 percentage points – about 84,000 votes – and has broad support among Republicans in both Florida and Washington.

District 27

Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar is up for reelection in her district, which encompasses portions of Miami-Dade including Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and the city of Miami.

Florida’s 27th congressional district is one of only two Republican-held seats in Florida that Democrats believe they have a real chance at winning back this year. Yet unseating Salazar, a well-known former newscaster in Miami, could prove difficult.

While she first won her seat in 2020 by fewer than 3 percentage points, she went on to win a second term two years later by nearly 15 points.

Two Democratic challengers that have qualified for this race that are hoping to unseat Salazar include the former Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey and Miami-Dade School Board member Lucia Baez-Geller.

One other Republican, Royland Lara, qualified for the August primary election, though Salazar is seen as the heavy favorite to clinch the GOP nomination.

District 28

With the candidate qualifying deadline passed, the general election matchup in Florida’s 28th congressional district, which stretches all the way from Tamiami to Key West, is set.

Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez didn’t receive a primary challenger this year, putting him on a glide path to the GOP nomination, while only one Democrat – Navy veteran Phil Ehr – qualified for the race.

Gimenez, a former Miami-Dade County mayor who ousted Mucarsel-Powell in 2020, is heavily favored to win a third term in Congress this year. While the district was once seen as a competitive battleground, it’s now considered relatively safe territory for Republicans.