Spotlight back on Senate race In Florida, Bill Nelson faces the political fight of his life against Rick Scott.

The campaign for U.S. Senate between Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has been churning in the background as the dramatic swings of the Florida governor’s race played out over the summer.

But now, the battle for what could be the pivotal seat for control of the Senate returns, though maybe not as much to the forefront as previously thought.

Nelson, 75, a three-term incumbent senator, is facing the fight of his life after relatively easy reelections in 2006, a Democratic wave year, and in 2012, when President Barack Obama won re-election.

Despite predictions that 2018 could be a big year for Democrats, Nelson finds himself facing the deep pockets of Scott, 65, a term- governor who has never been overly popular but squeaked through the 2010 and 2014 elections by about 1 percent of the vote after spending about $100 million of his own money.

Since announcing his entry into the Senate race, Scott’s campaign and his associated PACs have already spent more than $40 million, releasing ads on an almost weekly basis.

So far, Scott’s spots have called for term limits as a subtle way of reminding voters of Nelson’s long tenure in Washington. It’s a strategy that’s become less subtle as a GOP PAC questioned if Nelson has “caretakers” and is “no longer dealing from a full deck.”

Scott’s early ad blitz has pushed poll numbers in his direction over the course of the summer, with the latest FAU poll showing Scott with 45 percent and Nelson at 39 percent.

But the continuing environmental issues in the states, including the Gulf of Mexico “red tide” and algae blooms in Lake Okeechobee, and ongoing stories about Scott’s finances give Nelson some openings for attacks in the coming weeks.

In a July Mason Dixon poll, Nelson led 44 to 39 percent among Hispanics, but the number of unlimited

decided Hispanic voters, 17 percent, was the highest among all subgroups.

An August survey of more than 400 Latino voters in Florida found Nelson with an even smaller advantage over Scott, 44 to 41 percent.

Scott’s relative popularity with Hispanics comes despite his role as one of the first supporters of Donald Trump in the 2016 race, even as other Florida Republicans lined up behind Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

Just a few years after sticking his neck out for Trump, Scott has been careful to distance himself from a president unpopular among Hispanics for his handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and immigration policies.

But U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis’s full-throated support of Trump after gaining his endorsement in the GOP gubernatorial primary means the president will be a key figure in the campaign moving forward, on both sides.