Dem Challenger in Florida District Counting on Women, Millennials
*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).
Cheddar Politics takes a deeper look at the takeaways from the Georgia primary elections on Tuesday. Georgia Public Broadcasting's local and state politics reporter, Stephen Fowler, joins us to discuss the limits of Trump endorsements and break down what the outcome in each race means.
After learning that the suspect in the Uvalde school shooting posted about his intentions on Facebook, activists are urging social networks to make changes. Lena Derhally, a licensed psychotherapist and author of "The Facebook Narcissist," joined Cheddar News to discuss the role social media plays in school shootings. "They're not really invested in taking down hateful content," she said about social platforms."In regards to the shooting, it was 15 minutes before that actual threat. It would be pretty hard for a social media company to trace that threat that quickly. But what they can do better is take down threats and hateful content much faster and more than they're doing now."
Following the mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead, the debate over gun control has been reignited. While studies have shows most Americans agree on some additional regulations, there hasn't been much legislative traction even as gun violence worsens in the country. Brian Lemek, the executive director of Defend The Vote and the former executive director at Brady PAC for gun control, joined Cheddar to discuss reform efforts. "The lawmakers that we have aren't passing these at the federal level," he said. "That's the problem. We have the wrong people in charge."
The crypto industry is still reeling from Terra's recent crash. The company's blockchain was temporarily halted earlier this month after the collapse of its cryptocurrency Luna (LUNA) and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which led to almost $45 billion being wiped from the tokens' market caps within a week. Now, many are left wondering what Terra's struggles mean for the broader crypto market. Reeve Collins, CEO of the NFT platform BLOCKv, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell from Davos 2022 to discuss.
The average city in California has a 38% higher cost of living than the average American city, according to a cost of living index. For many, the general minimum wage of $15/hour just doesn't cut it. Anti-poverty activist Joe Sanberg wants to get the minimum wage changed to $18/hour. He joins Cheddar News to discuss the Living Wage Act of 2022.
