A number of Democratic senators and insiders worry Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) may be "in for a reckoning on Election Day" and lose his seat to Gov. Rick Scott (R.), according to to a Politico report.
Nelson trails in the polls to Scott, who has been widely lauded for his handling of a number of high-profile challenges as governor, including hurricanes, shootings, and now a red tide problem that has caused grave environmental problems along the Gulf Coast.
Nelson's polling problems have caused Democratic insiders to worry the senator isn't ready for a modern campaign, Politico reports.
"He may be smarter than we all think. But he’s not a modern-day campaigner," said one Senate Democrat. "He’s very old school."
Many Democrats point to Nelson's lack of name recognition.
And Florida Democrats fret that the low-key third-term senator has not been visible enough while Scott is seemingly everywhere.
"We have no contact with the U.S. senator until it’s an election year and that’s a problem," said Tangela Sears, a Miami anti-violence activist and campaign surrogate for the Democratic Party’s only African-American candidate for governor, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. "I don’t need your attention when you need my vote. I need your attention to put a plan together to move my community forward."
It’s been a month since Nelson led a public poll. Private polling, even surveys conducted by Democrats, also show Nelson behind Scott.
"I don’t take Rick Scott for granted," Sears said. "Too many people in our community don’t know who Bill Nelson is."
And a number of Democrats have also pointed to Nelson's relatively smaller campaign fund as a problem.
The financial disparity between the two sides is glaring when it comes to TV ad buys. Factoring in the support of outside groups, Scott’s side has spent nearly $34 million. Nelson’s side: almost $12 million.
Democratic groups, namely Senate Majority PAC, have tried to make up for the disparity. The group and its affiliates have spent nearly $11 million so far — with much more to come.
However, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman, said he's confident the Republican challenger won't be able to win in a year many Democrats hope to flip Republican seats in Congress.
"We are all in," Van Hollen said. "Rick Scott has got boatloads of money. But we also know that even though he’s spent all that money in the past, he’s barely scraped through in Republican years."
Others expressed less confidence in Nelson himself but expressed confidence Nelson and others will win as a result of a political climate in which opposition to President Donald Trump has given Democrats an advantage.
"I’m not saying our confidence is in Nelson. Our confidence is in the dynamics," a Democratic campaigner said.
Democrats would need to gain two seats in the 2018 midterms in order to take control of the Senate. In addition to Nelson, Democratic senators in a handful of states won by Trump in 2016 face particularly close battles, including Sens. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.), Joe Donnelly (D., Ind.), Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), and Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis.).