Demings, Rubio agree: Polls are only accurate if voters turn out
TAMPA, Fla. - With the 2022 midterm election hours away, a power shift in Washington could be in the near future. One race that could impact the outcome on a national stage is the U.S. Senate race in Florida, between Democrat Val Demings and Republican incumbent Marco Rubio.
Senator Rubio and Demings may disagree on the issues, but there's at least one area where their messages overlap: voter turnout.
They both know getting as many supporters out to the polls on Election Day is critical.
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Val Demings: Democracy is on the ballot
"Reducing gun violence is on the ballot! A woman's right, a woman's right to choose is on the ballot!" Demings said at a pre-election day event.
In her eyes, democracy is on the ballot.
That's the message the Democratic Senate candidate is delivering to voters as campaign approaches the finish line trailing Republican Senator Marco Rubio in the polls.
"Are we ready to uphold the rule of law? Are we ready to protect the constitution? Let me tell you, there's only one party that's doing that right now. We are ready to defend democracy!" Demings said.
Her focus on abortion rights hasn't wavered, following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade earlier this year.
LINK: U.S. SENATE DETAILED ELECTION RESULTS
Marco Rubio: Democratic policies are to blame
Rubio, meanwhile, remains critical of Democratic policies he believes are responsible for record inflation. He made an appearance on Fox News' "Sunday Night in America" to help deliver his closing arguments.
"If we have a big enough victory across the country, you would hope it would send a message, particularly those Senate Democrats up for election in 2024, that the American people are not supportive of some of these wild leftist ideas that they've been pursuing," Rubio said.
Turnout is key for both parties
"They need a presidential-level turnout," political expert Dr. Susan McManus pointed out.
She believes turnout could save the state's highest profile Democrats: Demings and gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist.
But she's just not sure it's possible.
"Polls are mostly wrong when races are very, very close. And polling done in Florida for the last couple of months has not shown these races to be very close," McManus said.
That's not stopping Rubio and Demings from campaigning down to the wire, because this is a race with national implications.
"Both parties look at Florida and they say, ‘If you're a Republican, we've got to have Rubio hold on to that seat.’ And the Democrats are saying, ‘We have got to have Demings pick up this seat for us to get to keep control of the U.S. Senate,’" McManus said.
2022 midterm turnout, so far
About one-third of registered voters in Florida had cast ballots as of Monday morning in advance of Tuesday’s general election.
Data posted on the state Division of Elections website showed that 4,789,974 Floridians had voted by mail or at early voting sites. Florida has 14.5 million registered voters.
MORE: Live turnout, ballot count results
Registered Republicans were outpacing Democrats by about 320,000 ballots cast. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley, who is president of a statewide association of supervisors, said he hopes final turnout Tuesday will be above 50%.
"The turnouts I expect to be, if we hit expectations, in the mid-50th percentile range," Earley said. "I will say the turnout is a bit lighter than we expected. I am not sure exactly why that is." Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday across the state.