Mucarsel-Powell Campaign Sets The Record Straight On Debates
Miami– Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign released the following statement this Monday as her opponent, Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo, is attempting to sell a bogus narrative regarding debates in the competitive race for Florida’s 26th Congressional District.
“Carlos Curbelo is either suffering from amnesia or purposely lying in order to distract from the fact that voters are turning on him, as they learn more about his terrible voting record,” said Melvin Félix, spokesman for the Mucarsel-Powell campaign. “Debbie looks forward to debating her opponent on the issues, and she has agreed to several debates and forums to remind voters that Curbelo has deceived them in Washington. And it’s comical that these name-calling tactics are coming from a congressman who has refused to hold a town hall with our community members since at least January 1, 2017.”
Here are the facts: Mucarsel-Powell has agreed to a Spanish-language debate with Congressman Curbelo this month on Telemundo, the highest-rated Spanish-language network in the country, as well as an English-language debate set for October 21 with Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg on WPLG-10, which has been on the books for weeks. Mucarsel-Powell has also accepted an invitation to debate Curbelo on Caracol Radio with host Mario Andrés Moreno, but the congressman has yet to settle on a date for that face-off.
Additionally, Mucarsel-Powell has already faced Congressman Curbelo in two previous forums, one in Key West and another in Marathon, both within the last month. In case the congressman has forgotten, he (and voters) can access the full video of both of these head-to-head forums online:
Finally, as a reminder, Curbelo’s campaign began its name-calling campaign after four consecutive polls showed Mucarsel-Powell closing the gap on her opponent, with three of those polls showing her ahead by one or two points, all within the margin of error:
- She led Curbelo 50-48 in a poll conducted last week for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm, the first poll this cycle with a candidate in this district at 50%;
- She led Curbelo by one point, 49-48, in a survey of 500 likely voters released this week by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research;
- A similar survey by Public Policy Polling (PPP) showed Mucarsel-Powell leading Curbelo by one point, 45-44;
- And an earlier poll commissioned by the New York Times showed Curbelo at 47-44, with 9% undecided.
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