Former Florida congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who once denounced dark money, has allied with the George Soros-funded dark money group Alianza for Progress.
This partnership aims to mobilize one million Puerto Ricans and “Latinx” voters to support Democrats, specifically targeting Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). Mucarsel-Powell’s participation with Alianza comes despite her 2019 stance against dark money, which she deemed harmful to democracy.
Alianza for Progress, a 501(c)4 organization, is primarily funded by Soros’s Open Society Policy Center. Since 2020, Alianza has raised nearly $2.75 million, with substantial contributions from the Open Society Policy Center. Mucarsel-Powell’s collaboration with this group has raised questions about her consistency, especially considering her prior criticisms of dark money in politics.
In her previous campaign, Mucarsel-Powell criticized ICE as being run by racists but has since shifted her stance. In a February op-ed for the Sun Sentinel, she praised ICE’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and accused Scott of undermining the agency by voting against a Senate immigration bill. This pivot aligns her more closely with Alianza for Progress’s agenda, despite the group’s efforts to overturn a 2019 state law banning sanctuary cities and mandating local cooperation with ICE.
Mucarsel-Powell’s shift on dark money reflects the challenges she faces in her campaign to unseat Scott. While she is expected to win the Democratic primary, polls indicate she trails Scott by significant margins. Her alliance with Alianza for Progress, a group she once would have condemned, underscores the complexities of her political strategy as she attempts to regain a foothold in Florida politics.
