Matt Gaetz and Rick Scott face challengers in Florida primaries

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has his sights on a GOP leadership role, but first he must get past two candidates in the state’s Republican primary on Tuesday.

Scott, who won his Senate spot by a margin of about 10,000 votes in 2018, is aiming to run for Senate Republican leader to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

If Scott wins the primary, he would face a Democratic opponent in November.

The Democratic frontrunner is former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who got President Joe Biden’s endorsement in April and has campaigned for the past year against Scott.

The senate seat is not the only one in Florida to watch, since some of the state’s congressional races include the most well-known far-right lawmakers.

One such example is U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who must defeat his primary challenger Aaron Dimmick. That race has been fueled by a barrage of campaign advertisements, with Gaetz accusing Dimmick of being a carpetbagger who moved from Missouri to the Florida Panhandle to promote diversity and inclusion. Meanwhile Dimmick has highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz.

U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds and Mike Waltz are also widely known conservative legislators. Donalds doesn’t have any primary challengers and Waltz is facing John Grow, a software engineer who may struggle to upend the conservative lawmaker. Waltz, however, has spoken at former President Donald Trump’s campaign events, made Fox News appearances and appeared at the Republican National Convention last month.

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