MIAMI (WSVN) - Outgoing Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez has unseated incumbent Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for Florida’s 26th Congressional district seat.
Gimenez beat Mucarsel-Powell 52% to 48% of votes.
He announced victory outside his house in Miami, just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
In a speech to his supporters, the mayor said he wants to work as a bipartisan congressman.
“My opponent was one of the most partisan members of Congress, I want to be bipartisan. We need to work together. This country needs to work together because we have threats from outside and inside, and for us to keep fighting, it makes no sense whatsoever,” Gimenez said, “and so I’m gonna roll up my sleeves, and I’m gonna work with our colleagues in Congress to bring solutions, to bring results to the people of Miami-Dade County and also the people of this country. The first thing we have to do is restore our economy, and I think we’re on our way to doing that.”
Gimenez said working as a mayor during the pandemic was perhaps the biggest challenge he had ever faced. He was elected mayor in 2011 and his term limit ended with him claiming Florida’s 26th Congressional district seat.
Even with 100% of the precincts reporting, as of Wednesday morning, Mucarsel-Powell has yet to concede.
She released the following statement Tuesday night on the election results that read as follows:
“This election has seen historic levels of turnout in Florida and across the nation, and we are still waiting for all the votes to be counted. What we are seeing now is our democratic process at work. I look forward to a final result when the votes have been counted and everyone’s voice has been heard.”
The 26th Congressional district seat was considered the Democrats’ most vulnerable house seat in Florida. Mucarsel-Powell won the seat in 2018.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.