Exclusive: Florida U.S. Senate challenger launches WhatsApp channel to reach voters

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the former U.S. House Democrat now challenging Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott for the Senate, has launched a new campaign on WhatsApp to reach voters and attack a sea of disinformation.

The direct messaging operation is part of a broader attempt to close the gap in a race that has grown increasingly tight. Democrats face an uphill battle undoing Republican gains in the state in recent years, particularly in an election where former President Trump is expected to add to GOP turnout in the state. However, Democrats think they can move the needle, particularly with Latino voters, through smartphones.

 “It's particularly created to target Latino voters across the state to provide them with accurate, factual information coming straight from the source,” Mucarsel-Powell, the sole Latina candidate running for U.S. Senate this year, told NPR.

The messaging campaign includes two channels on the messaging platform WhatsApp — one in English and another in Spanish.

The effort also coincides with a similar launch by the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, which now has its own bilingual channel to reach Latino voters. In their case, the Harris campaign said it was a first-of-its kind in a presidential contest. 

The encrypted platform is a free messaging app that is particularly popular among immigrants, and especially Latinos, to communicate through texts and calls domestically and internationally. With campaigns increasingly looking to use the app, they hope their network will grow with voters as updates are shared by users.

Mucarsel-Powell argues WhatsApp will let her directly reach Florida’s Hispanic community, often a target of disinformation. A Pew Research report found 46% of