Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has a clearer path to challenge Sen. Rick Scott after Phil Ehr exits the race to run for U.S. House instead

Democrat Phil Ehr on Wednesday said he is leaving the 2024 race for a U.S. Senate seat and will run against U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-FL.

Ehr’s exit from the Senate race short-circuits a potential Democratic primary fight against former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who hopes to unseat U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-FL.

The Associated Press reports that this gives Mucarsel-Powell a clearer path to win the nomination to challenge Scott in 2024 because Ehr was her most high-profile opponent to date.

In a prepared statement, Ehr criticized Gimenez, a former Miami-Dade County mayor who was first elected to Congress in 2020.

“I am running to represent the people of south Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys with integrity,” Ehr, a former Navy commander, said in the statement. “The incumbent joined MAGA extremists in creating dysfunction and chaos in Congress. Floridians want their individual freedoms protected and a democracy and economy that work for them. I will fight for this every day in Congress.”