July 4, 1776 was the day Americans came together to begin the fight for democracy.

From this day on, the United States has stood as a shining beacon of those democratic principles worldwide.

But 248 years later, our bright light, which has illuminated the hearts and minds of people the world over, has never been more at risk of going out.

2024 will be remembered as a pivotal year for American history. The trials that we face are enormous. And if we fail to rise to the moment, the consequences will haunt us long after the November election is called.

But this time, the greatest threat to our existence is not an uncaring king or  parliament seeking to exert control on disobedient subjects across the waves.
This time, the call is coming from inside the house — or rather, the Senate.

As an immigrant who came here in search of the American dream, I’ve seen first hand what happens when democracy — and our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — is voided by corrupt leaders. 

I know all too well what happens when tyrants win power with zero checks, as well as the devastating impacts it has for the people they desperately try to control. We cannot let that happen here in America. 

That's why I'm running to unseat Rick Scott, friend. With his unimaginable fortune and out-of-touch policies, he's working with the sole objective of undoing everything about our country that gave my family, like so many others, a shot at a better life. 

After making millions of dollars by defrauding our social safety nets, he wrote the plan to increase taxes on working families and the middle class to the benefit of oligarchs like himself. 

He voted for a nationwide ban on abortions, going against the vast majority of the American public.

He wrote the plan to end the Social Security and Medicare benefits that millions of Americans count on to retire with dignity.

I see in Scott, and his fellow far-right extremists, the same greed-fueled hunger for absolute power that our founding fathers risked everything to reject, and that my family left everything and everyone we knew to escape. We cannot let them succeed.

Saving our democracy starts by ensuring we do not willfully hand over the reins to those uninterested in upholding it. Keeping that bright light ablaze means ensuring the far-right extremists of the Republican Party never get the chance to extinguish it.

This Independence Day, and every day, it has never been more important that we come together once more around those founding principles, and work toward the better, brighter future for all that we know is within reach.

So I vow to always keep up the fight for the founders' greatest legacy: our sacred democracy. And with this grassroots team — with people like you, friend — alongside me, I know we have what it takes to keep that shining beacon burning bright.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day,

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell