On Tuesday, Democrat Candidate Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee, defied all the odds to score a stunning upset in the Democratic primary race for Florida governor. The preliminary results had Gillum winning 34.23 percent of the votes with 511,126 votes. Although she was leading in the polls up to Tuesday, Gwen Graham finished second with 31.38 percent representing 468,494 votes. Finished third was former City of Miami Mayor Phillip Levine with 20.29 percent representing 302,964 votes.
Gillum will now go ahead to compete against Republican Ron DeSantis, who easily won the Republican primary gor governor, in the November 6 general elections. DeSantis was endorsed by President Donald Trump. DeSantis won his race over former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adan Putman with 56.47 percent of the vote representing 908,908 votes. Putnam received 36.56 percent of the votes from 588,415 voters.
Should Gillum win in November he will become Florida’s first African American governor.
Gillum victory is more stunning for he had a very limited campaigning chest, compared to his fellow Democrat candidates. However, he ran a masterful ground campaign criss-crossing the state in his bus. He received a surge in the polls as election day approached, and the surge obviously spiked on Tuesday. He won heavily in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
On Tuesday night Gillum’s closest rivals, Graham and Levine, conceded victory, and gave assurance they would throw their support behind him in the general elections.
