This week, Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) announced that she will run for U.S. Senate and challenge incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
In her announcement video, however, Demings failed to list any accomplishments during her tenure as a Congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives, having been elected in 2016.
Demings begins her announcement video as any politician would — with a biography, pointing out that she “grew up in the south; poor, black, and female,” before explaining that her father was a janitor and her mother was a maid. She then describes how she moved to Orlando, FL, from Jacksonville to become a police officer, eventually becoming Orlando’s chief of police.
She includes news clips of her time as police chief, including one of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer crediting her with the “most dramatic decrease in violent crime in the city’s history.”
But as Demings pivots to discuss her election to congress, her accomplishments disappear, mentioning only committee assignments (she’s a member of the homeland security, judiciary, and intelligence committees), far from a clear “win” for her constituents or the people of Florida.
The only other insight into her time as a congresswoman regard her repeated attacks on former President Donald Trump, who is no longer in office (but is currently residing in Florida). Demings contrasts her criticism of Trump with Rubio’s willingness to work with the former president.
Trump isn’t president anymore. Sure, referencing the former Commander in Chief may attract the attention of those in the Sunshine State who still hate Trump more than anything else in the world, and Demings does have a primary to worry about, but Florida voted for Trump twice, so attacking him isn’t likely to help her chances in a statewide election.
Of course, we all know that a primary is very different and requires members of the same party to prove they are farther Left or Right than their opponents, but a campaign video like this, which leaves out any actual congressional accomplishments, seems like a miss.
The question then becomes, why didn’t she highlight her congressional record in her video, which is meant to act as her introduction to the people of Florida, even though she must first fight her way through a bruising primary (even though she has a good chance of beating former Rep. Alan Grayson, the man who compared the Tea Party to the Ku Klux Klan).
One reason Demings seems to be avoiding her Congressional history could be her 100% rating with the left-wing Human Rights Campaign (whose name is a misnomer) and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Given highlights of her legislative accomplishments include the naming of two post offices and a bill promising the U.S. would be tough on Russia President Vladimir Putin, the logic of her silence on her governmental experience seems clear.
Full disclosure: Ashe Schow previously worked for Sen. Marco Rubio’s communications director a decade ago during her time at Heritage Action.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.