*By Carlo Versano*
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat seeking to unseat a Republican incumbent in Florida's 26th congressional district, wants the election in November to be a referendum on healthcare.
In a district with more than 100,000 families relying on Obamacare, "the top issue continues to be healthcare" Mucarsel-Powell said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
Mucarsel-Powell is challenging incumbent GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo in an area that includes Key West and a chunk of Miami-Dade ー and went for Hillary Clinton over President Trump by double-digits in 2016.
Curbelo, a Republican who votes with Trump 82 percent of time time according to Nate Silver's [FiveThirtyEight](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/carlos-curbelo/), is leading in the [polls](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article216729815.html), though Mucarsel-Powell is hoping that an activated base of female and millennial voters will encourage a blue wave so Democrats can take the House in November.
But Mucarsel-Powell continues to be plagued by a report earlier this summer published in [The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/shady-oligarchs-firm-paid-dem-candidates-husband-dollar700000?ref=author) that claimed her husband, attorney Robert Powell, has financial ties to a Ukrainian oligarch.
Her husband "has absolutely no relationship to the person they're claiming he does," Muscarsel-Powell said, likely referring to Ihor Kolomoisky, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman who has been accused of [contract killings and embezzlement](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article214974800.html).
For now, Mucarsel-Powell is staying focused on healthcare ー largely to protect her female constituents.
"Women have had enough of this administration, of looking at these images of men making decisions when it comes to their healthcare," she said.
For full interview, [click here] (https://cheddar.com/videos/flipping-south-florida-could-be-an-uphill-battle-for-democrats).
President Joe Biden made his first public comments about his son Hunter Biden's plea deal with federal prosecutors on two misdemeanor tax charges. This follows several critical comments by Republicans, who blasted the agreement as a "sweetheart deal."
A federal judge struck down Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions.
Climate change is on trial in Montana. In a landmark case, 16 young people are suing the state over effects like smoke, heat, and drought. It's just the first in a series of cases intended to pressure lawmakers into taking action on the environment. Here with more is Cheddar News Senior Reporter Chloe Aiello.
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A White House official said First lady Jill Biden is hosting a roundtable conversation on Tuesday that will bring together women who have been denied medical care since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Former president Donald Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier said on Monday that he did not show classified documents to anyone else after his term.
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