General election showdown

Murphy, Rubio to square off in long awaited general election showdown

Both U.S. Senate candidates easily vanquished their primary opponents

By Matt Dixon and Daniel Ducassi

It was a U.S. Senate primary season in Florida brimming with the promise of heated races in both parties after Sen. Marco Rubio decided to run for president, leaving a political crown jewel: an open U.S. Senate seat in the nation's third-largest state.

Ultimately, Rubio abandoned his bid for the White House and in the process shutdown the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Rep. Patrick Murphy raked in huge endorsements and a large war chest, which was enough to easily defeat fellow Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson and longshot Pam Keith.

By election night, all that was left was the counting.

The Associated Press called both contests as soon as results started rolling in at 8 p.m. As of 9 p.m., Rubio held a 71-18 lead over Republican opponent Carlos Beruff, and Murphy was topping Grayson by a 58-17 margin.

The primary fight has been dominated by a general election dynamic since Rubio got back in the race June 22 after months of saying he did not want to seek re-election.

In their victory speeches, both previewed lines of attack that will no doubt define the field of battle headed into November.

For Murphy, that begins with Rubio leaving his Senate seat to run for president, and then telling CNN Monday that he's not pledging to serve a full six-year term if he wins re-election. It's a sign he could be mulling another run for president in 2020.

“I will serve a full six-year term for the people of Florida,” Murphy said to a packed ballroom at a DoubleTree in Palm Beach Gardens, a city in his congressional district.

Rubio slammed the now Democratic Senate nominee, Patrick Murphy as the “handpicked” choice of the "entire Democratic party establishment."

The choice voters have in November, Rubio said, is "between someone who has achieved things on behalf of our state… and someone who feels entitled to the job because everything he’s ever wanted has been given to him before." He spoke to a fired up crowd at the Embassy Suites in Kissimmee.

Rubio continued: "He likes to call himself a centrist and a moderate,” Rubio said of his opponent, but in his mind, Murphy is "nothing more than an old-fashioned liberal.”

Both had big names from their party show up for their election night events. Murphy was introduced by Rep. Ted Deutch, and was also joined on stage by Rep. Gwen Graham, who is not seeking re-election, but is widely considered a candidate for governor in 2018.

She continued to pound on the narrative that Rubio is an absentee Senator.

“We are the third-largest state in the country, and we have to have two U.S. Senators that are there for us,” she said.

In Orlando, Rubio’s event included appearances by CFO Jeff Atwater, former U.S. Senate candidate Todd Wilcox, and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, whose exit from the Senate race was key to getting Rubio to run for re-election.

“But this is not the end,” aid Lopez-Cantera, who introduced Rubio. “This is only the end of the beginning, for the real race starts right now."

Because Rubio had spent months on the national stage running for president and is expected to at least mull a run in 2020, the race has had national juice. That was exacerbated by the fact that Democrats need to flip just four seats to take control of the Senate if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency.

Along with a handful of other battleground Senate seats across the country, national groups on both sides have had heavy involvement in the race, and Murphy picked up the early endorsement of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Rubio had firepower right off the bat from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Senate Majority Fund, a super PAC that has been hammering Murphy and other Democrats in key seats across the country.

Both sides have millions of dollars in TV time already reserved for the weeks leading up to the general election.

Press releases from outside national groups came pouring in as soon as the race was officially over.

The Senate Majority Fund continued to hit Murphy for relying on huge contributions from his father.

“Murphy needed to use his dad’s millions to buy a primary win over Alan Grayson, an ethically tarnished opponent,” said Ian Prior, the group’s spokesman.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which endorsed Murphy in the primary and has reserved $8 million in general election ads, continued the theme that will be common over the next two months.

“Rubio views his Senate seat as nothing more than a stepping stone to the presidency, and Florida deserves a Senator who is dedicated to fighting for them,” said Tom Lopach, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.