That Demings is considering a challenge to Rubio came as a surprise to many Democrats, who largely expected her to mount a bid for governor instead. Since then, a number of her would-be primary opponents have backed away from the Senate race, easing Demings’s path to the party’s nomination and soothing Democrats’ concerns of a long and bruising primary campaign.
But Democrats acknowledge that Rubio won’t be easy to beat for a number of reasons. For one, he’s already been reelected twice, most recently in 2016 when he made a late entrance into the race following a failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Former President Trump on Friday fired back at former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) after a speech in which Ryan criticized Trump’s continued grip on the Republican Party.
Members of the Senate GOP are eager to move past the Jan. 6 attack and are trying to keep the focus on the Biden administration heading into 2022. They largely avoided speaking from the Senate floor about the commission ahead of Friday s vote, while agreeing to let it get sped up in exchange for delaying a final vote on China-related legislation until after the Memorial Day recess.
McConnell on numerous occasions has sidestepped mentioning Trump directly, and instead has referred to him only as the former president.
“We want to look ahead,” Rounds said.
But Republicans faced voices of dissent within their own ranks.