WASHINGTON - Freshman U.S. Representative Ross Spano was ousted by a challenger in the Florida Republican primary Tuesday amid a federal investigation into campaign finance violations from two years ago.
Spano is the eighth member of Congress to lose his seat in primaries this year, joining four other Republicans and three Democrats. The primary winner is likely to become the next U.S. senator from the solidly Republican western state, where Senator Mike Enzi is retiring this year. Sullivan, a first-term Republican senator, did not have a primary challenger. Non-partisan U.S. election handicappers have said he is likely to win re-election.
Franklin told Reuters he thought he won on a message that Republicans were"in jeopardy" of losing the seat in November if Spano were the nominee. Democratic Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, an immigrant from Ecuador, flipped the seat two years ago.