Enter the characters you see below Sorry, we just need to make sure you’re not a robot. Can the Florida congresswoman inherit Joe Biden’s Democratic Party? A group of distinguished guests had gathered to honor Bethune, the val gift for men educator and civil-rights activist who founded a college for Black students in Daytona Beach, Florida, and later served as an adviser to President Franklin D.
The group, which included several members of Florida’s congressional delegation, smiled as cameras flashed. Two of those present, Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Val Demings, are opponents in the race for Rubio’s Senate seat—a race that could secure the Democrats’ control of the Senate. One by one, speakers approached a lectern in front of the statue to offer remarks. Demings told those who had gathered in the amphitheater. As I listened to my parents tell the story, it seemed impossible.
Demings hopes to conjure some of Bethune’s magic. If the race does break her way, the Democrats will have the convergence of two separate story lines to thank. The first is the story of Val Demings herself: a centrist Black woman with a background in law enforcement—just the profile the party has placed its bets on in recent years. And if the national Democratic Party’s unpopularity had been weighing on her fortunes, the events of recent weeks may have buoyed them. In early August, Democrats in Congress passed a mammoth bill on climate change, health care, and taxes.