Florida Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel Powell is campaigning on protecting democracy, but she seems more committed to the integrity of elections abroad than at home.
The Ecuador-born first-term congressman is fighting to defeat Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) after losing to Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) in 2020. The incumbent and challenger have been battling over border security and election integrity.
Breitbart News reached out to Mucarsel-Powell's campaign to ask whether she believes undocumented immigrants should be able to vote in US elections and whether she supports the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill that would ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections by expanding proof of citizenship requirements and imposing voter roll purging requirements on states.
The bipartisan bill passed the House in July with the support of five Democrats but has yet to be taken up in the Senate, but it is gaining momentum on the campaign trail and in Washington, where House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) plans to attach the SAVE Act to a continuing resolution to keep the government funded beyond the current Sept. 30 deadline.
Mucarsel-Powell's campaign did not respond to Breitbart's inquiries about her position on the issue.
A few days after Breitbart reached out to Mucarser-Powell and received no response. Newsweek Published An exclusive interview with her on “Venezuela, immigration, and Rick Scott.”
During the interview, Mucarsel-Powell discussed at length the importance of electoral integrity in Venezuela and, ironically and accurately, accused dictator Nicolas Maduro of “trying to steal the election” and “targeting the opposition.” She also used the interview to blast Scott for his support of Donald Trump.
Senator Mucarsel-Powell appears to have used the friendly interview to aggressively voice her views on the SAVE Act, while ignoring the substance of the issue. Dismissing the bill as political theater, Senator Mucarsel-Powell again rejected the opportunity to deny foreigners the right to vote in American elections.
“We've seen violence against immigrants incited because of these talking points that Rick Scott continues to use, many of which are completely false,” she said. Newsweek“The latest development, and before you ask, they're saying we should have a law that makes it illegal for people who aren't U.S. citizens to vote. We already have a law that says if you're not a U.S. citizen, you can't vote.”
She continued, “Let's get the facts straight right now. They've once again used a false talking point to sow division. [if] There are no laws in this country. Maybe Rick Scott should look at the law books that we have in this country.
But Republicans argue that laws banning foreigners from voting will be ineffective without guardrails in place.
“International residents are registering to vote and, in many cases, voting because existing federal law makes it very easy for them to do so,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who introduced the bill in the Senate. Posts Tuesday, X. “That's why we need the SAVE Act.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote an op-ed for Breitbart on Wednesday refuting Democrats' claims that foreign nationals voting is already illegal.
“They fail to mention that the Supreme Court's interpretation of current federal law literally prohibits states from verifying the citizenship status of individuals who register to vote in federal elections,” Roy said. “Furthermore, multiple Democrat-run jurisdictions Actively working “There have been problems registering foreign nationals to vote. The SAVE Act solves each of these problems.”
The policy page on Mucarsel-Powell's campaign website includes a section titled “Security and Democracy First,” which mentions the importance of “responding to crises on our border” and “defending democracies overseas,” but does not explicitly mention defending American democracy.
“We must keep America strong and competitive,” the page reads. “Debbie knows that starts by addressing crises at our border and defending our democracy abroad.”
Scott has championed the SAVE Act in the Senate and has been outspoken about the need to prioritize election integrity in our nation's elections as a key component of reducing incentives for illegal immigration.
“Chairman Johnson is doing the right thing by attaching the SAVE Act to the spending bill,” Scott said. Posts Regarding X: “Those who believe foreigners should vote in elections are accountable to the American people.”
The House is expected to return from its summer recess on Monday and quickly pass a stopgap spending bill along with the SAVE Act, forcing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to choose between ignoring the House bill or persuading enough Republicans to give up their seats and vote for a clean stopgap spending bill without the election integrity measures.
The deadline for government funding is September 30th.
“We want to fund the government, [are] “We need to get it through to next year so the next president has a chance to finalize the budget and make sure foreigners don't have a vote,” Scott said on Fox News. “If Chuck Schumer doesn't believe in those things, let him make that decision.”
Regardless of how that fight plays out, the issue of border security is not going to go away.
To demonstrate her sincerity on border security, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell has been touting a 2024 immigration bill being pushed by Mr. Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“It's all smoke and mirrors,” Sen. Roger Marshall recently told Breitbart. The failed immigration bill was negotiated behind closed doors by a caucus of Democratic senators and Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. Support for the bill collapsed within hours of details of the bill being leaked.
As Breitbart reported, despite negotiators' characterization of the bill, the failed bill increased levels of legal immigration, expedited work authorization for immigrants released into the U.S., and, most infamously, allowed tens of thousands of immigrants to cross the border each week before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could implement any border controls.
Vice President Kamala Harris has said that if elected, she will not only support the bill, but ensure it becomes law.
Bradley Jay is Capitol Hill correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter. Translator.
