Five takeaways from the Florida Senate debate - CNN

CNN  — 

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Val Demings demonstrated successful Tuesday’s Florida Senate statement wherefore they are considered 2 of the brightest stars by their respective parties.

In a spirited and testy 60-minute statement – the archetypal and lone of the contention – they traded speedy barbs, crisp rebukes and pointed answers, covering a scope of issues from termination and guns to the system and atomic war.

Rubio, a one-time statesmanlike campaigner who is nary alien to the statement stage, leaned into his legislative achievements and argumentation proposals portion calling his hostile a carnal of the governmental near who hasn’t passed immoderate meaningful bills. Demings, a House impeachment manager during erstwhile President Donald Trump’s archetypal impeachment proceedings, painted Rubio arsenic a person who volition accidental and bash thing to get reelected and compared his agelong vocation successful elected bureau to her clip connected the constabulary unit successful Orlando.

The contention has mostly flown nether the radar compared to different hotly contested matchups that could power the destiny of the evenly divided Senate. And neither enactment had plans going into Tuesday to walk overmuch connected airtime successful the last 3 weeks. That world favors Rubio successful a authorities wherever Republicans person consistently held the electoral borderline and present outnumber Democrats successful registered voters, putting the onus connected Demings Tuesday to prehend momentum earlier aboriginal voting begins connected Monday successful galore counties.

Here are 5 takeaways from the debate.

On a time erstwhile President Joe Biden moved to recast the midterm predetermination arsenic a referendum connected termination access, Demings and Rubio tried to pin each different down connected wherever they would gully the enactment successful a post-Roe world.

Rubio said that helium is “100% pro-life,” including successful cases of rape oregon incest due to the fact that “I don’t judge that the worth of quality beingness is determined by the circumstances.” But helium said helium would enactment authorities with exceptions if it helps get thing passed. He is 1 of 9 Republican co-sponsors of a Senate measure to prohibition termination nationwide astatine 15 weeks, which Sen. Lindsey Graham filed successful effect to the US Supreme Court determination successful Dobbs earlier this year.

“We’re ne'er going to get a ballot connected a instrumentality that doesn’t person exceptions, due to the fact that that’s wherever the bulk of the American radical are,” Rubio said. “And I respect and recognize that.”

Demings successful her effect invoked her instrumentality enforcement inheritance (she is simply a erstwhile Orlando constabulary serviceman and main of police) for the archetypal of respective times.

“As a constabulary detective who investigated cases of rape and incest, no, Senator, I don’t deliberation it’s good for a 10-year-old miss to beryllium raped and person to transportation the effect of her rapist,” Demings said.

Pushed by Rubio to specify the week she would bounds abortion, Demings said she would “support a woman’s close to take up to the clip of viability,” and would fto doctors determine erstwhile that is. Rubio said that wasn’t bully enough.

“She supports nary limits of immoderate kind,” helium said. “That is retired of the mainstream. That is radical.”

In a state perpetually rocked by weapon violence, Florida inactive manages to basal retired arsenic a authorities uniquely affected by wide shootings. Rubio served successful the Senate for 2 of the astir notable, which basal arsenic cardinal moments successful his governmental biography. Rubio said helium decided to tally for reelection to the Senate aft the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. After the 2018 calamity astatine a Parkland precocious school, Rubio faced a assemblage astatine a CNN Town Hall that demanded enactment and helium promised helium would enactment connected solutions.

In that municipality hallway event, Rubio said, “I perfectly judge that successful this country, if you are 18 years of age, you should not beryllium capable to bargain a rifle, and I volition enactment a instrumentality that takes that close away,” adding, “I deliberation that’s the close happening to do.”

Asked connected Tuesday astir his vow astatine that forum to see property restrictions for definite firearms, Rubio said, “That doesn’t work.”

“I deliberation the solution of this occupation is to place these radical that are acting this mode and halt them earlier they act,” Rubio said, pointing to the alleged reddish emblem measure helium projected that would springiness states tools to instrumentality a process to instrumentality guns retired of the hands of radical flagged arsenic threats by instrumentality enforcement. But Rubio voted against a bipartisan weapon information measure that Biden signed into law.

“The cardinal contented is wherefore are these kids, wherefore are these radical going retired determination and massacring these people?” Rubio said. “Because a batch of radical ain AR-15s and they don’t termination anyone.”

To which Demings responded: “People who are families of victims of weapon unit conscionable heard that and they’re asking themselves, ‘What successful the hellhole did helium conscionable say?’”

Demings, whose Orlando-based territory includes Pulse, said Rubio has done “nothing to assistance code weapon unit and get unsafe weapons retired of the hands of unsafe people.”

Rubio replied that it’s intolerable to legislate criminals.

“The lone radical that travel these laws are law-abiding citizens,” helium said.

Demings responded: “Why don’t we conscionable halt arresting murderers since we can’t find them all?”

Out of the gate, Rubio and Demings were asked astir Hurricane Ian, the monolithic Category 4 hurricane that pummeled Florida’s Southwest seashore past month, and what the state should bash to hole for aboriginal ace storms.

Demings wasted nary clip mentioning clime change.

“If we don’t bash thing astir it, we’re going to wage a unspeakable terms for it,” Demings said. “The national authorities has got to marque definite that FEMA has the resources that it needs to adequately respond, but we gotta get superior astir clime change.”

Rubio declined to look ahead, oregon sermon clime change, and alternatively focused connected exigency effect and recovery.

Asked aboriginal astir the crumbling spot security successful the state, a focal constituent successful the aftermath of Ian, Rubio called it “a authorities issue.”

Demings changeable backmost that if it is simply a authorities contented past Rubio had a accidental to code the occupation erstwhile helium was talker of the Florida House.

“He’s been successful elected bureau since 1998 and security of Florida has tripled and radical are suffering,” Demings said. “I sent a missive to Governor (Ron) DeSantis saying, ‘Yes, I cognize it’s a authorities issue. But however tin we enactment unneurotic to little the costs of spot security for Floridians due to the fact that radical are suffering?’”

Rubio said helium did code it successful the Florida House.

“You cognize who the politician was astatine the time? Charlie Crist, your gubernatorial candidate,” Rubio quipped. “I deliberation you’ve endorsed him. So you should inquire him if it didn’t work, but we surely supported it.”

While Trump has loomed ample successful galore of the midterm contests this cycle, helium was hardly mentioned successful a statement successful a contention that volition find who volition correspond the erstwhile President successful Washington.

Demings, successful fact, ne'er mentioned Trump astatine all.

Nor did DeSantis, the state’s consequential Republican governor, get overmuch airtime.

But the different apical Republican successful the authorities – Sen. Rick Scott, the caput of the Senate GOP run limb – was the taxable of treatment connected Social Security and Medicare.

Rubio was asked astir Scott’s 11-point “Rescue America” plan, which included a proviso to sunset each national programs each 5 years, including the fashionable entitlement programs.

Rubio rapidly dismissed the idea. “That’s not my plan.”

“You should inquire him,” Rubio said.

A conception focused connected migration argumentation started with the moderator asking Rubio astir Biden’s caller argumentation to stem the travel of Venezuelan migrants by having them use to get successful the US astatine ports of entry, not the Mexico-US border.

Rubio summarized it thusly: “Joe Biden conscionable instituted Trump’s ‘Return to Mexico’ policy.”

“This cannot continue. It has to beryllium fixed,” helium added. “That needs to hap with everyone that’s trying to travel crossed but we’re gonna person 10,000 radical a time coming. And we can’t spend it. No state successful the satellite tin tolerate that.”

The Republican past enactment Demings connected the antiaircraft implicit the fig of radical who person crossed into the United States since Biden took bureau portion besides attempting to look sympathetic to the radical fleeing brutal regimes successful South America. Florida is location to galore Latino communities, including the largest colonisation of Venezuelans surviving successful the US.

“No 1 has done much connected the contented of Venezuela than I have,” Rubio said. “And Cuba and Nicaragua.”

Demings, too, attempted to straddle her party’s enactment for migrants seeking asylum without appearing indifferent to the concerns astir the enactment astatine the Southern border. She said she supported adding borderline patrol agents, investing successful unspecified exertion and hiring much radical to process migrants moving done the ineligible migration system.

“We’re a federation of laws,” Demings said. “We person to enforce the instrumentality but we besides obey the instrumentality that says radical who were successful occupation tin question asylum successful this country.”