Florida governor race: Ron DeSantis vs Andrew Gillum
Well, it’s official: Floridians will now have a face off between Ron DeSantis vs Andrew Gillum to replacement Rick Scott as Florida’s governor. This has basically become a proxy election between President Donald Trump and socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
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Some Republican voters will be shocked to learn that Adam Putnam has lost the race to DeSantis, but a strong endorsement from Donald Trump and surging campaign against Putnam proved to be successful. The final tally was decisive with DeSantis at 55.7% and Putnam at 37.3%.
Steve Contorno reports that “Putnam said he called DeSantis to concede and said he will do everything he can do to help him win in November.”
With that said, can Trump claim all of the credit?
No.
Of course not, but it’s likely he will.
Reality is more complicated: Putnam long career in Florida politics has finally caught up with him and the Parkland shooting fallout (being targeted by David Hogg) surely played a factor in South Florida.
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The Democratic side has much more complex, but proves the progressive, socialist movement is REAL and is here.
Philip Levine managed to disrupt to race by dumping a ton of cash into a massive ad campaign across South Florida, destroying the Jeff Greene efforts in the process.
Of course, Greene “is a garbage candidate,” according to Alex Snitker, during an exclusive preview of the race with the Dispatch. Check that out below.
Bigger than the Trump factor is the Bernie Sanders endorsement of Andrew Gillum at the beginning of the month. This kicked off a frenzy for the socialists and progressives, sparking a surge which played out in the ballot total.
“Andrew has never backed down from a fight, including beating the NRA and standing up against xenophobic politicians,” Sanders said in the statement. “Andrew Gillum will set a new course for Florida — a governor who represents all the people and not just powerful special interests.”
Sanders, like Trump on the GOP side, appears to be the deciding factor in a convoluted race which ended Gwen Graham’s bid to become the first female governor of Florida.
“The point has never been lost on me that my name on the ballot is simply a vessel, is simply the name,’ Gillum told a raucous crowd of supporters in Tallahassee on Tuesday night. “But what is underneath that name are all the issues that we care so deeply about.”
The race was close: Gillum at 34.3% to Graham’s 31/3%: 517, 417 votes to 472,735. Levine’s biggest spending left him with 306,450 votes, third at 20.3%. Greene’s exit from the race may not have coming early enough as he received 151,935 votes, 10.1%.
