Florida race looms large in Zika fight

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) could be the key to ending the Republican stalemate over funding to fight the Zika virus. 

Rubio, who has been the GOP’s loudest advocate for combating Zika, stands to win big points against his Democratic opponent if he’s seen as delivering relief to his home state before Election Day.

{mosads}And with the Florida potentially pivotal to Republicans’ hopes of keeping control of the Senate, some say Rubio could help convince House Republicans to drop their objections to the bill so that it gets to the president’s desk by November.  

“Sen. Rubio has been the superstar for the Zika funding issue in the U.S. Senate and I’m sure that whatever happens is going to be influenced by his views and his work on this,” Rep. Carlos Curbelo, another Florida Republican whose reelection race has been caught up in the funding fight, said in an interview. 

“Florida’s been very fortunate that he’s been such a leading voice,” Curbelo said.

Senate Republican leaders announced this week they have restarted negotiations with Democrats to end the long-lasting feud over funding to battle the virus, which carries with it the risk of severe birth defects. Much of that urgency comes from lawmakers like Rubio and Curbelo, whose home state has been ground zero for the virus in the continental U.S.

Florida has counted at least 660 cases of Zika, including 84 pregnant women, as of Thursday. Nationwide, the tally is approaching 20,000 cases, with the vast majority reported in Puerto Rico.

The Senate is now planning to sidestep the divided House on the issue, which means Rubio could be seen as helping to rescue the funding package while his opponent in Florida, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), waits around for the results.

Rubio’s reelection bid is a bright spot for Senate Republicans, who are defending 24 seats and are in danger of losing their majority.

Murphy has said Rubio should do more to convince the GOP to drop controversial language in the bill that targets Planned Parenthood, which has led Senate Democrats to block it repeatedly.

“We can’t keep putting ideology above the health and safety of Florida families,” Murphy said in a phone briefing Tuesday. “I hope that Sen. Rubio understands that playing politics with women’s health during this serious public health crisis is dangerous.”

Liberal groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America have also poured money into the Florida Senate race, betting that Democrats will come out ahead politically on Zika. NARAL spent $175,000 on an ad this week blasting Rubio for the inaction on Zika, though inaccurately portraying him as someone who has helped to block the funding.

Rubio was the first Republican in Congress to back the president’s nearly $2 billion funding request in February. Since then, he has given press conferences, floor speeches and TV interviews nearly every week imploring both chambers to approve funding to fight the outbreak.

In May, Rubio penned an op-ed that said it was only “a matter of time” before Zika-carrying mosquitoes spread the virus in Florida. Two months later, Rubio was proven right. 

All attempts to pass a funding package have been doomed either by conservatives’ objections to spending levels or by Democrats opposing the language on Planned Parenthood.  

With Congress locked in the partisan battle, Rubio has introduced several bills to offer relief to his home state — and touted them on the campaign trail.

One of those was a bipartisan funding bill with his Florida colleague in the Senate, Bill Nelson (D), who this week defended Rubio’s attempts to break through the gridlock, a contrast to Murphy’s remarks to reporters.

Other colleagues of Rubio’s, however, have been more critical of his effectiveness in lobbying for Zika funding over the last eight months. 

“From the very beginning, we’ve known how this was going to end up and it was going to be [House Speaker] Paul Ryan [R-Wis.] pushing to get the votes for it,” Murphy said in an interview Wednesday. 

As for Rubio: “He hasn’t been real effective so far,” Murphy said.