*If you had hope for Andrew Gillum as Florida’s first African American governor, unfortunately that goal won’t be realized. At least not at this time.
The bottom line is that Ron DeSantis will be the next Florida governor and therefore will extend Republican control of the state’s highest office to a sixth straight four-year term. Even more so, it proved that a candidacy almost entirely about President Donald Trump could win the top office in a major state.
Here’s more via HuffPost:
DeSantis, who was a little-known congressman from the Jacksonville suburbs a year ago, squeaked past Democrat Andrew Gillum in what quickly became a nasty contest with racial overtones and accusations of corruption.
Gillum conceded the race at about 11 p.m., three hours after polls closed in the state’s Panhandle and after almost all the votes had been counted in heavily Democratic South Florida.
“I still believe, I still trust the voters,” said Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, in his concession speech. “We may not have all shown up in the way that we thought and hoped that we would. But I still believe that there are still more of us who believe in what is common and what is decent and what is right. And I believe that in the long run good always wins out over evil.”
He added, “I sincerely regret that I couldn’t bring it home for you, but I can guarantee you this: I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to fight.”
Gillum held a small but consistent lead in the available public polling throughout the general election campaign, but Republicans were confident their voter turnout operation ― built by former Gov. Jeb Bush and refined over the past decade ― would deliver them the necessary votes.
Get the full story at HuffPost.
