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My life is the embodiment of the American Dream. Our mother brought my sisters and me to the United States in search of democracy, freedom, and opportunity. She worked two jobs as a home health aide and cleaning peoples’ homes to build a better life for our family, and with her years of hard work she earned the Social Security and Medicare benefits that she relies on today.
My name is Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, and I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring back the opportunities that allowed me to get to where I am today. My story is one I have seen reflected all over Florida – the story of hard work and perseverance. Only in a state like Florida is it possible for an immigrant like me to have gone from working minimum wage in a donut shop to working in nonprofit organizations here in Miami like Zoo Miami and the Coral Reef Restoration Foundation, to serving as Associate Dean at the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, to serving in Congress and running for U.S. Senate. At FIU I lead a program to help expand access to healthcare for more Floridians. It is what led me to run and get elected to Congress by our South Florida community in 2018.
As my mother’s daughter, as a proud Latina, and as a mother myself, the issues facing us in Florida today are personal for me. I’m running to protect the benefits that seniors and my mother have worked their entire lives for. I’m running to ensure that all working families have the opportunity to work hard and get ahead the way that I did when my mother brought us to this country. I’m running to ensure our children can access a world-class education right here in Florida – and afford to live here after they finish school. After losing my father to gun violence when I was 24, I’m fighting for safer communities without the threat of gun violence. And as a Latina, I know firsthand what it means to leave authoritarian regimes; I’m running to protect and defend our democracy here in America.
We need more leaders in Florida who are willing to put aside partisan politics and work with anyone to deliver for Florida. That’s the work I was proud to do in the House of Representatives. I worked across the aisle to deliver $200 million in Everglades restoration funding. I came to the table and I wrote the bill to expand access to Medicare. Floridians deserve a Senator who is eager to find common ground with anyone in order to benefit the hardworking people in our state. I’m ready to cut through the gridlock and the political games and be that leader for Florida.
My story should not be an exception – it should be the rule, and I will fight hard every day in the Senate to make that a reality and build a brighter future for Floridians.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell served as a member of congress representing South Florida. Prior to her election, Mucarsel-Powell lead several non profits including serving as Associate Dean of FIU Medical School
