Marco Rubio and Val Demings in furious clashes on abortion and gun safety in Florida debate

The three-term congresswoman seeks to knock off the GOP incumbent in an increasingly Republican state

Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Val Demings traded barbs about abortion, guns and immigration during Florida’s increasingly bad-tempered Senate debate.

The three-term Democratic congresswoman and the two-term Republican Senator traded aggressive barbs about abortion. Mr Rubio was asked about his previous remarks saying he opposed exceptions for rape and incest.

In response, he said that every piece of legislation he has backed has had exceptions.

“Every one of them does because that's what can pass and that's what the majority of people support,” he said. “We’re never going to get a vote on a law that doesn’t have exceptions.”

By contrast, Mr Rubio said Ms Demings was an extremist for not supporting any limits on abortion.

“She voted against a former she's against a four month ban,” he said. “She voted against a five month ban. She supports taxpayer funded abortion on demand for any reason at any time, up until the moment of birth. That's what she supports. That's the extreme position here.”

In response, Ms Demings criticised Mr Rubio for personally opposing exceptions for rape and incest.

“Now as a police detective who investigated cases of rape and incest no Senator, I don't think it's okay for a 10 year old girl to be raped and have to carry the seed of her rapists,” she said. “No, I don't think it's okay for you to make decisions for women and girls.”

Similarly, Ms Demings pushed back on the accusation that she supported no restrictions on abortion.

“I've said time and time again and he knows that that I support a woman's right to choose up to the time of viability,” she said.

The most heated exchanges came during a back-and-forth about gun violence. Ms Demings hit Mr Rubio for deciding to seek a second term for Senate in 2016 after he failed to win the Republican presidential nomination in light of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub.

“This is about taking dangerous guns out of the hands out of dangerous people and the overwhelming majority of people in our nation want us to do just that,” she said. “How long will you watch people getting gunned down in first grade, fourth grade, high school, college, chuch, synagogue, a grocery story, a movie theatre, a mall, a night club and do nothing?”

Mr Rubio responded by saying that none of the proposed laws by Democrats would have stopped the gun massacres.

“What makes no sense is that we’re going to actually pass laws that only law-abiding people will follow and criminals will continue to violate,” Mr Rubio said. “If they’re intent on killing as they are, they have found multiple ways to get a hold of weapons and cause mass destruction.”

The two also had an aggressive back-and-forth on voting rights. Mr Rubio defended having to present an identification card, which many Democrats say makes it harder for students and people of colour to vote.

“I have been a Hispanic man my entire life,” he said. “I'm a minority. I've never felt like producing an ID disadvantage is my ability to vote.”

Mr Rubio added that Florida has strong election laws. Conversely, Ms Demings said Democrats were focused on passing a reauthorisation of the Voting Rights Act to prevent voter suppression.

“Senator, your job is to make sure that every person votes, the ones who may vote for you, and the ones who may not vote for you,” she said.

Ms Demings faces an uphill battle in Florida as she seeks to unseat Mr Rubio. In his 2016 campaign, he outran former president Donald Trump. Since then, Florida has become more Republican.

The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates Florida’s Senate race as “Likely Republican.”