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Vice President Biden Campaigning In South Florida

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Vice President Joe Biden was in South Florida Monday to campaign and attend a fundraiser for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy.

The two greeted supporters at Jackson's Soul Food in Overtown. Murphy is running for Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat.

"Look, we gotta win back the Senate because it's becoming dysfunctional," said Biden.

The race is crowded. There are three running on the Democratic side and five on the Republican ticket. There's a lot riding on whoever wins the seat.

"We've got to get D.C. working again," said Murphy. "This could be the state that flips control of the entire U.S Senate."

If the Democrats can pick up five seats, they will take the Senate from Republican control. That has big implications - one immediate issue - deciding who will fill Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia's seat. The president has already nominated someone, but the Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings.

"We got to win back the Senate because, for example, the idea that we're not even going to have a hearing for Supreme Court nominee for 300 days, come on," said Biden.

Political Analyst Fernand Amandi said this is a critical vote.

"Florida's Senate race could determine the balance of power for the Senate nationally," said Fernand Amandi.

Right now, attention has been focused on the presidential race and that will likely have a huge impact on who wins in the Senate.

"If you're voting for a Republican, you're much more likely to vote for that Republican candidate for Senate, for Congress and for other seats down the ballot, same principle applies for the Democrats," said Amandi.

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