Florida’s gubernatorial race is likely to be a doozy. Both parties yesterday nominated candidates who excite their partisan bases: Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) flaunts his sycophantic support for Donald Trump, and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the first African American in Florida history to win a major party nomination, is an unapologetic progressive with a bold platform.
The first controversy arose on the first day of the general election.
Ron DeSantis, the Republican nominee for governor in Florida, faced a backlash on Wednesday for saying in a television interview that his state should not “monkey this up” by electing his Democratic rival Andrew Gillum, who is African-American.
DeSantis made the comment in an interview on Fox News when speaking about Gillum, a progressive who won his party’s nomination in an upset on Tuesday night.
“You know, he is an articulate spokesman for those far-left views and he’s a charismatic candidate,” DeSantis said. “The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state. That is not going to work. That’s not going to be good for Florida.”
First, “articulate” is probably word DeSantis should shy away from. Second, Gillum’s platform is filled with some pretty popular ideas, and nothing about his agenda could reasonably be described as “socialism.”









