Stephanie Murphy won’t run for Senate seat in Florida next year

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D) will not challenge Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in 2022, but will instead run for reelection to her Central Florida House seat.

Murphy announced her decision in a video message on Monday days after Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) signaled that she is likely to run for Rubio’s seat next year. 

Murphy, who represents an Orlando-area swing district, warned against the perils of a competitive Senate primary, saying that she would instead focus on building out the Democratic Party’s infrastructure in Florida.

“The reality is that Marco Rubio will not be an easy opponent, especially if it’s on the heels of a bruising primary where Democrats spend millions attacking each other instead of using those millions to build the infrastructure we so desperately need to win here,” Murphy said.

“So I’ve decided instead of running for the U.S. Senate, I will devote my energy to helping make our party stronger,” she continued. “While I will not be running statewide in ‘22, I will work to help the Democratic Party build toward statewide success. We must start now with unity of effort if we want the state to be ready to put the White House, a Senate seat and more state and local races in the Democratic column in ‘24.”

Murphy has been floated as a potential challenger to Rubio for months. Even after news broke last week that Demings was nearing a Senate campaign announcement, some Florida Democrats said that Murphy was still seriously considering a run of her own, insisting that she was undeterred by Demings’s plans. 

Murphy isn’t the only Orlando-area Democrat to back away from a potential Senate bid in recent days. Former prosecutor Aramis Ayala, who had previously floated a run for Senate, said on Friday that she is also considering a bid for Demings’s House seat next year.

Murphy’s announcement is likely to come as a relief to some Democrats in Florida. Many in the party feared a potentially drawn-out and damaging Senate primary that could leave the eventual nominee hobbled heading into the general election against Rubio. 

Murphy also represents the competitive Orlando-area 7th District, which is among House Republicans’ top electoral targets of the 2022 midterms. Democrats are already bracing for a tough race in Florida’s St. Petersburg-based 13th District next year after Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) announced that he would forgo reelection next year to run for governor.

Democrats have suffered a tough few years in Florida. Former President Trump carried the state twice, and the 2018 midterms saw the ouster of longtime Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), as well as Democrat Andrew Gillum’s defeat in a closely watched gubernatorial race.

Last year, two South Florida Democrats who had managed to flip Republican-held seats just two years earlier — Reps. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala — lost reelection. 

And Rubio won’t be easy to beat. He has won statewide twice and already has the endorsement of Trump ahead of his next reelection campaign.