Florida politicians, still dealing with the aftermath of the last hurricane, are now preparing for a potentially catastrophic storm just weeks out from Election Day.
Across parties, they’re seeking political advantage.
“Another hurricane, more devastation and Rick Scott is only making it worse,” Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell said in a new ad dropped shortly after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26. “Rick Scott sold us out, and now your property insurance bill is four times the national average.”
Two days later, Sen. Rick Scott’s campaign accused Mucarsel-Powell of being “willing to lie to politicize a natural disaster” — and also dropped his own hurricane campaign ad. His version riffs off of Mucarsel-Powell and quotes various Florida sheriffs praising his hurricane response.
The Florida ads are part of a larger wave of political finger-pointing in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and as Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall this week.
Republicans, led by Donald Trump, have tried to turn the federal storm response into an indictment of Kamala Harris’ leadership. Trump is repeatedly attacking Harris over the Helene response, saying Monday that she was responsible for “THE WORST STORM RESPONSE IN HISTORY” and that voters in Southern states would vote for him because of it.
Florida Democrats, though, see a way for storms to drive votes their way: by reigniting a policy fight over property insurance.
“This hurricane is going to play a major role in this election,” Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried told reporters about Helene last week. “What it is going to do is continue to highlight how we got here.”
Democrats see property insurance as one of two key “kryptonite” issues to use against Republicans this cycle. Property insurance rates have shot up in recent years, and multiple private insurers have also left the market, driving up demand for state-backed property insurance of last resort — while Republicans controlled all branches of state government. The Florida Legislature has passed bills aimed at fixing the problem but with minimal effect.
“We’ve got a solution to the insurance crisis, which is going to be on full display as tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Floridians are going to try to get somebody to cover their damage that they just experienced last week,” Fried said in the aftermath of Helene.
Beyond the political messaging debate, voting rights groups are raising alarms about how the storms will impact access to the ballot. They sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis Friday and asked him to push Monday’s voter registration deadline to next week. He told reporters Monday he would not be doing so.
Florida Republican Party Chair Evan Power called the attempts “just another excuse” for Florida Democrats’ steep voter registration disadvantage.
DeSantis also found another preferred target this week: reporters.
In response to questions Monday about reports from NBC News that he’s refusing storm-related phone calls from the vice president, DeSantis said, “Some of these questions are trying to create some kind of political angle when there’s just none there. What we’ve asked for has been approved. You’re not seeing me out there carping or complaining about anything.”
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Claire Heddles is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.