Florida gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

	2022 → ← 2014
Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Florida
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: June 22, 2018
	Primary: August 28, 2018; General: November 6, 2018; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Gov. Rick Scott (Republican); Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in Florida
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Toss-up; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up; Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2018; Impact of term limits in 2018; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
Florida; executive elections
	Governor; Lieutenant governor; Attorney general; Chief Financial Officer; Agriculture commissioner

Former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) defeated Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) and four others in the general election on November 6, 2018, for Florida's governorship. Businessman Chris King (D) was Gillum's running mate.^[3] State Rep. Jeanette Nuñez (R) was DeSantis' running mate.^[4]

Florida remained a Republican trifecta in the 2018 elections, where Republicans won the governor's office and both chambers of the state legislature. Florida first became a Republican trifecta in 1998 when Jeb Bush (R) was elected governor. Republicans took control of the Florida House of Representatives in the 1996 election and the Florida State Senate in the 1994 election.

The winner of this election stood to influence the state's redistricting process following the 2020 census. Under Florida state law, the state legislature is responsible for drawing new maps for U.S. House seats following the completion of the census. The governor has the power to veto these district map proposals. The governor does not have veto power over state legislative districts, which are also drawn by the state Legislature.^[5] Click here for more information on redistricting procedures.

Heading into the election, forecasters called this race a toss-up or said it slightly favored Democrats. Incumbent Gov. Rick Scott (R), who was term-limited, won the 2010 election by 1.2 percentage points and the 2014 election by 1 percentage point. Recent presidential elections were closely contested as well. Donald Trump (R) won the 2016 presidential election by 1.2 percentage points, while Barack Obama (D) won the 2012 election by 0.9 percentage points and the 2008 election by 2.8 percentage points.

Florida was one of 36 states that held an election for governor in 2018. Democrats gained seven previously Republican-held seats, and Republicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were 16 Democratic governors, 33 Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with a Republican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with a Democratic governor held a gubernatorial election. Seventeen of the 36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election. Click here for more information on other 2018 gubernatorial elections.

Third-party candidates and independents who ran included Darcy Richardson (Reform), Ryan Foley (I), Kyle Gibson (I), Raphael Herman (I), and Bruce Stanley (I).

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Candidates and election results

See also: Statistics on gubernatorial candidates, 2018

Governor

General election

General election for Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Florida on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ron DeSantis (R)	49.6	4,076,186
	Andrew Gillum (D)	49.2	4,043,723
	Darcy Richardson (Reform Party)	0.6	47,140
	Kyle Gibson (No Party Affiliation)	0.3	24,310
	Ryan Foley (No Party Affiliation)	0.2	14,630
	Bruce Stanley (No Party Affiliation)	0.2	14,505
	Other/Write-in votes	0.0	66

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,220,560 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Raphael Herman (No Party Affiliation)
Randy Wiseman (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Florida on August 28, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Andrew Gillum	34.4	522,164
	Gwen Graham	31.3	474,875
	Philip Levine	20.3	308,801
	Jeff Greene	10.1	152,955
	Christopher King	2.5	37,616
	John Wetherbee	0.9	14,426
	Alex Lundmark	0.6	8,655

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,519,492
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Richard Dembinsky (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Florida on August 28, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ron DeSantis	56.5	916,298
	Adam Putnam	36.5	592,518
	Bob White	2.0	32,710
	Timothy Devine	1.3	21,380
	Bob Langford	1.2	19,842
	Bruce Nathan	0.9	14,556
	Don Baldauf	0.8	13,173
	John Joseph Mercadante	0.7	11,647

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,622,124
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Angel Rivera (R)

Lieutenant Governor

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Florida on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jeanette Nuñez (R)	49.6	4,076,186
	Christopher King (D)	49.2	4,043,723
	Nancy Argenziano (Reform Party)	0.6	47,140
	Ellen Wilds (No Party Affiliation)	0.3	24,310
	John Tutton Jr. (No Party Affiliation)	0.2	14,630
	Ryan McJury (No Party Affiliation)	0.2	14,505
	Other/Write-in votes	0.0	66

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,220,560
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

See also: Editorial approach to writing about key campaign messages

Andrew Gillum, mayor of Tallahassee

Party: Democratic

Incumbent: No

Political office: Mayor of Tallahassee (Assumed office: 2014), Tallahassee City Council (2003-2014)

Biography: Gillum was born in the Richmond Heights area of Miami-Dade County. He and his family later moved to Gainesville, Florida. He attended college at Florida A&M University and was elected to the Tallahassee City Commission when he was a senior.^[6]

Key messages

Gillum said he was in-touch with working-class people. He talked about growing up in a low-income family and highlighted that his mother worked as a school bus driver and his father worked in construction.^[7]

Gillum expressed support for national progressive initiatives, including establishing a single-payer healthcare system. He said Florida could not implement single-payer healthcare on its own, so he would focus on expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and protecting individuals with pre-existing conditions.^[8]^[9]

Gillum said his agenda gave Floridians a reason to vote for someone rather than just vote against the other party.^[7]^[10]

Gillum criticized DeSantis for his record in Congress, saying he voted to cut Social Security and Medicare in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.^[11]

Ron DeSantis, former U.S. representative from FL-6

Party: Republican

Incumbent: No

Political office: U.S. Representative from Florida's 6th Congressional District (2013-2018)

Biography: DeSantis was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Yale University for his B.A. and Harvard Law School for his J.D. He joined the U.S. Navy after law school. He served in the Iraq War and was a JAG prosecutor.^[12]

Key messages

DeSantis highlighted his endorsement from President Donald Trump and his support for the president and his agenda.^[13] He said he would use his relationship with the president to secure favorable federal policy for Florida on issues like water policy, transportation policy, and military bases.^[14]

DeSantis said he stood up to the sugar industry and other special interests on environmental issues.^[15]

DeSantis highlighted his service in the Iraq War and his experiences as a JAG officer at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[13]

DeSantis said Gillum was too liberal for the state and said Gillum's record as Tallahassee mayor showed he was corrupt and incompetent.^[15] He also said Gillum was anti-Israel.^[16]

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Florida gubernatorial election, 2018
Poll	Poll sponsor	Gillum (D)	DeSantis (R)	Other/undecided	Margin of error	Sample size

Quinnipiac University October 29-November 4, 2018	N/A	50%	43%	7%	+/-3.5	1,142
St. Pete Polls November 3-4, 2018	Florida Politics	50%	45%	5%	+/-1.8	3,088
Marist University October 30-November 2, 2018	NBC News	50%	46%	4%	+/-5.0	595
Targoz Market Research October 28-31, 2018	N/A	43%	46%	11%	+/-4.0	558
Vox Populi Polling (undecided was not an option) October 27-30, 2018	N/A	47%	44%	9%	+/-3.7	696
The Trafalgar Group October 29-30, 2018	N/A	48%	46%	6%	+/-1.9	2,543
SRSS October 24-29, 2018	CNN	49%	48%	3%	+/-4.3	781
Cygnal October 27-29, 2018	N/A	47%	47%	6%	+/-4.4	495
Suffolk University October 25-28, 2018	USA Today	45%	44%	11%	+/-4.4	500
University of North Florida October 23-26, 2018	N/A	49%	43%	8%	+/-3.0	1,051
Siena College October 23-27, 2018	New York Times	48%	43%	9%	+/-4.0	737
YouGov October 23-26, 2018	CBS News	47%	46%	7%	+/-4.0	991
Ipsos October 17-25, 2018	Reuters and the University of Virginia's Center for Politics	50%	44%	6%	+/-3.4	1,069
AVERAGES		47.92%	45%	7.08%	+/-3.65	1,095.85
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Click here to see older polls

Florida gubernatorial general election, 2018
Poll	Poll sponsor	Gillum (D)	DeSantis (R)	Other/undecided	Margin of error	Sample size

1892 October 20-22, 2018	DeSantis campaign	46%	47%	7%	+/-2.0	2,500
Strategic Research Associates October 16-23, 2018	Gray Television	45%	48%	7%	+/-3.46	800
Florida Atlantic University October 18-21, 2018	N/A	41%	37%	22%	+/-3.6	704
Quinnipiac University October 17-21, 2018	N/A	52%	46%	2%	+/-3.5	1,161
St. Pete Polls October 20-21, 2018	Florida Politics	47%	46%	7%	+/-2.5	1,575
SurveyUSA October 18-21, 2018	Bay News 9 Tampa and News 13 Orlando	49%	42%	9%	+/-5.0	665
SEA Polling & Strategic Design October 17-20, 2018	N/A	48%	42%	10%	+/-4.0	600
SSRS October 16-20, 2018	CNN	54%	42%	4%	+/-4.2	759
OnMessage Inc. October 14-18, 2018	Rick Scott (R) for Senate	44%	46%	10%	+/-2.09	2,200
St. Pete Polls October 15-16, 2018	Florida Politics	47%	46%	7%	+/-2.2	1,974
Florida Southern College Center for Polling and Policy Research October 1-5, 2018	N/A	47%	44%	9%	+/-4.49	476
AVERAGES		47.27%	44.18%	8.55%	+/-3.37	1,219.45
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Florida gubernatorial general election, 2018
Poll	Poll sponsor	Gillum (D)	DeSantis (R)	Other/undecided	Margin of error	Sample size

Strategic Research Associates, LLC. September 17-30, 2018	WCTV-TV	44%	43%	13%	+/-3.46	800
St. Pete Polls September 29-30, 2018	Florida Politics	47%	45%	8%	+/-2.0	2,313
Public Policy Polling September 28-30, 2018	N/A	48%	44%	8%	+/-4.0	779
Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy September 24-27, 2018	Leadership Florida and Florida Press Association	45%	44%	11%	+/-3.5	815
Quinnipiac University September 20-24, 2018	Quinnipiac University	54%	45%	1%	+/-4.0	888
Cherry Communications September 19-24, 2018	Florida Chamber of Commerce	48%	42%	10%	+/-4.4
NBC News/Marist September 16-20, 2018	NBC News	48%	43%	8%	+/-4.7	600
University of North Florida September 5-12, 2018	N/A	47%	43%	10%	+/-3.9	605
Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics September 5-12, 2018	Thomson Reuters and the University of Virginia Center for Politics	50%	44%	6%	+/-3.5	1,000
Florida Atlantic University September 13-16, 2018	Florida Atlantic University	41%	39%	20%	+/-3.3	850
Cherry Communications September 6-9, 2018	Florida Chamber of Commerce	47%	43%	10%	+/-4.4	514
St. Pete's Polls September 5-6, 2018	Florida Politics	48%	47%	5%	+/-2.1	2,240
Quinnipiac University August 30-September 3, 2018	Quinnipiac University	50%	47%	3%	+/-4.3	785
Public Policy Polling August 29-30, 2018	Christian Ulvert	48%	43%	9%	+/-3.6	743
AVERAGES		47.5%	43.71%	8.71%	+/-3.65	923.71
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

PredictIt Prices

This section provides the PredictIt market prices for this race during the three months leading up to the election. PredictIt is a site where people make and trade predictions on political and financial events. Market prices reflect the probability, based on PredictIt users' predictions, that a candidate will win a race. For example, a market price of $0.60 for Candidate A is equivalent to a 60 percent probability that Candidate A will win.

Campaign finance

Notable donations

On October 18, Tom Steyer announced he would donate another $2 million to Gillum.^[17]
On October 17, the Miami New Times reported that members of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' family had donated $200,000 to DeSantis.^[18]
On October 5, The Miami Herald reported that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would donate $250,000 to Andrew Gillum.^[19]
As of October 3, Gillum had received $1.1 million and DeSantis had received $1.37 million from a state program that matched individual contributions of $250 or less.^[20]
On September 26, Mike Fernandez, a former GOP donor who left the party after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential nomination, gave Gillum $200,000.^[21]
On September 25, the New York Times reported that Tom Steyer's political organizations would spend more than $5 million in support of Gillum. Steyer said that he would spend more money in Florida than any other state in 2018, and added, "He’s called for the impeachment of the president. He’s been willing to talk plainly to Florida voters, and they’ve responded."^[22]
On September 20, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) hosted a fundraiser for DeSantis.^[23]
Other notable donations to DeSantis, as of October 23, included:^[24]
- Laura Perlmutter, wife of Marvel Chairman Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, gave DeSantis $2 million.
- Sheldon and Miriam Adelson gave DeSantis $500,000.
- Richard Uihlein gave $500,000 to DeSantis and $250,000 to a state committee that transferred the money to DeSantis.
Other notable donations to Gillum, as of October 23, included:^[24]
- Donald Sussman gave Gillum $1 million.
- George Soros gave Gillum $1.3 million.
- The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gave Gillum $2 million.
- The Florida Education Association gave Gillum $2 million.

Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[25]^[26]^[27]

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

Democratic Governors Association (DGA)
- On October 5, the DGA announced it was putting another $1 million into Gillum's campaign, bringing its total investment to $4 million.^[28]
- On August 30, 2018, the DGA announced it would spend $1 million supporting Andrew Gillum.^[29]

The Faith and Freedom Coalition said it would spend $18 million across 19 states in 2018, including Florida.^[30]

Florida Conservation Voters said it would spend $500,000 on digital ads supporting Gillum on October 22.^[31]

NextGen Florida announced it would spend $1.2 million on digital ads supporting Gillum on October 20.^[32]

Republican Governors Association (RGA)
- On September 14, the RGA began a $4 million ad buy that highlighted DeSantis' participation in the Little League World Series as a child.^[33]
- On September 4, the RGA announced that it had reserved $7.4 million in air time, including $3 million in the Orlando market.^[34]
- Matt Dixon of Politico Florida reported on February 22, 2018, that the RGA had made another ad buy, for $1.4 million, in the Florida gubernatorial race.^[35]
- On February 15, 2018, the RGA announced that it had purchased $20 million worth of advertisements in four states on behalf of Republican candidates for governor, including $9.4 million of advertisements slated to run in Florida. In an interview with Politico, RGA executive director Paul Bennecke indicated that "this is just the beginning of what will be a record amount spent by the RGA in the 36 states electing governors this November."^[36]

Priorities Action USA announced September 21 that it would spent $3.7 million on digital ads supporting Andrew Gillum and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).^[37]

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from three outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[38]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[39]^[40]^[41]

Race ratings: Florida gubernatorial election, 2018
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2018	October 30, 2018	October 23, 2018	October 16, 2018
The Cook Political Report	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Tilt Democratic	Tilt Democratic	Tilt Democratic	Tilt Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Noteworthy general election endorsements
Endorsement	Gillum (D)	DeSantis (R)
Individuals
President Donald Trump (R)		✔
Former President Barack Obama (D)^[42]	✔
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)^[43]	✔
Hillary Clinton (D)^[44]	✔
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló (D)^[45]	✔
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (D)^[46]	✔
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D)^[47]	✔
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R)^[48]		✔
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D)^[49]	✔
Organizations
Florida Chamber of Commerce^[50]		✔
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence^[51]	✔
Florida Police Benevolent Association^[52]		✔
Broward Sheriff's Office Deputies Association^[53]		✔
Everglades Trust^[54]		✔
Sierra Club^[54]	✔
Florida Conservation Voters^[54]	✔
Newspapers
Sun-Sentinel^[55]	✔
Miami Herald^[56]	✔
Orlando Sentinel^[57]	✔

Click here to see a list of endorsements in the August 28 Democratic primary

Democratic candidate endorsements
Endorsement	Date	Gillum^[58]	Graham^[59]	Greene	Levine	King
National figures
Former Puerto Rican Governor Sila María Calderón Serra^[60]	August 24, 2018				✔
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes^[61]	August 21, 2018		✔
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)^[62]	August 1, 2018	✔
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL)^[63]	July 27, 2018		✔
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)^[64]	June 29, 2018		✔
Tom Steyer/NextGen America^[65]	June 28, 2018	✔
Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D)^[66]	June 7, 2018		✔
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)^[67]	June 4, 2018	✔
Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor and general chair of the DNC^[68]	March 15, 2018				✔
Howard Dean, former Vermont governor and DNC chairman	March 13, 2018		✔
George Soros^[69]	January 8, 2018	✔
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.)	August 15, 2017	✔
U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)	July 25, 2017		✔
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)	June 20, 2017		✔
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.)	June 14, 2017	✔
Wendy Davis, former Texas state senator and 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee	June 3, 2017		✔
Julián Castro, former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development	May 22, 2017	✔
U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)	May 17, 2017		✔
State figures
State Rep.-elect Joe Casello^[70]	July 26, 2018				✔
Former Florida CFO Alex Sink^[71]	July 17, 2018		✔
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith^[72]	April 6, 2018	✔
Former State Rep. Keith Fitzgerald^[73]	March 14, 2018				✔
Bob Poe, former Florida Democratic Party chairman	March 6, 2018	✔
Betty Castor, former Florida education commissioner^[74]	January 11, 2018		✔
State Rep. Ben Diamond	November 16, 2017		✔
State Rep. Tracie Davis	November 6, 2017		✔
State Rep. Matt Willhite	October 11, 2017		✔
State Sen. Randolph Bracy	July 10, 2017	✔
State Rep. Clovis Watson, Jr.	July 10, 2017		✔
State Rep. John Cortes	June 29, 2017		✔
State Rep. Katie Edwards	June 29, 2017		✔
State Rep. Nick Duran^[75]	June 28, 2017					✔
State Sen. Victor Torres	June 26, 2017		✔
State Sen. Perry Thurston	June 5, 2017	✔
State Rep. Emily Slosberg	May 25, 2017		✔
State Rep. David Silvers	May 25, 2017		✔
State Rep. Kristin Jacobs	May 25, 2017		✔
State Rep. Evan Jenne	May 25, 2017		✔
State Rep. Richard Stark	May 25, 2017		✔
State Sen. Darryl Rouson	May 23, 2017		✔
State Rep. Barbara Watson	May 12, 2017		✔
State Rep. Lori Berman	May 12, 2017		✔
State Rep. Amy Mercado	May 12, 2017		✔
State Sen. Bobby Powell	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Joseph Abruzzo	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Ramon Alexander	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Shevrin Jones	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Al Jacquet	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Patrick Henry	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Kamia Brown	Unknown	✔
State Rep. Loranne Ausley	Unknown	✔
Local figures
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer^[76]	August 25, 2018		✔
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn^[77]	August 16, 2018		✔
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz^[78]	July 31, 2018				✔
Lake Worth Commissioner Herman Robinson^[70]	July 26, 2018				✔
Aventura Commissioner Howard Weinberg^[70]	July 26, 2018				✔
Surfside Mayor Daniel Dietch^[70]	July 26, 2018				✔
Miami Beach Commissioner Mark Samuelian^[70]	July 26, 2018				✔
Pensacola Commissioner Larry B. Johnson^[70]	July 26, 2018				✔
State Attorney Aramis Ayala^[79]	July 17, 2018	✔
Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller^[80]	July 13, 2018	✔
Former Tampa City Council Chairwoman Gwen Miller^[80]	July 13, 2018	✔
Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki^[81]	July 13, 2018		✔
Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre^[82]	June 26, 2018		✔
St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Gina Driscoll^[83]	June 21, 2018				✔
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis^[84]	June 4, 2018		✔
Tallahassee City Commissioner Gil Ziffer^[85]	March 21, 2018		✔
Hawthorne Mayor Matt Surrency	February 12, 2018		✔
Former Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas^[86]	November 15, 2018				✔
Warren Jones, Duval School Board member	November 6, 2017		✔
Karl Nurse, St. Petersburg city councilman	November 3, 2017		✔
West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio^[87]	November 1, 2017		✔
Coral Springs Mayor Skip Campbell	November 1, 2017		✔
Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis	November 1, 2017		✔
Hillsborough County Clerk Pat Frank	October 27, 2017		✔
Lake Worth City Commissioner Omari Hardy	October 24, 2017	✔
West Palm Beach Commissioner Shanon L. Materio	October 11, 2017		✔
Pompano Beach Commissioner Barry Moss	October 11, 2017		✔
West Palm Beach Commissioner Shanon L. Materio	October 11, 2017		✔
Eatonville Mayor Eddie Cole^[88]	August 16, 2017					✔
Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett Dennis	July 17, 2017		✔
Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich	June 16, 2017		✔
Former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin^[89]	June 13, 2017					✔
St. Petersburg City Council Chair Darden Rice	May 23, 2017		✔
Tampa City Councilmember Mike Suarez	May 23, 2017		✔
Leon County Commissioner John Dailey	May 16, 2017		✔
Leon County Commissioner Kristin Dozier	May 16, 2017		✔
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Barbara Jordan	Unknown	✔
Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness	Unknown	✔
Osceola County Commissioner Viviana Janer	Unknown	✔
Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam	Unknown	✔
Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe	Unknown	✔
Lauderdale Lakes Mayor Hazelle P. Rogers	Unknown	✔
West Park Mayor Eric Jones	Unknown	✔
Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson	Unknown	✔
Dania Beach Mayor Tamara James	Unknown	✔
West Park Vice Mayor Brian Johnson	Unknown	✔
St. Petersburg Council Vice Chair Lisa Wheeler Bowman	Unknown	✔
Gainesville Commissioner Harvey Ward	Unknown	✔
Gainesville Commissioner Adrian Hayes Santos	Unknown	✔
Gainesville Commissioner David Arreola	Unknown	✔
Fort Myers Councilwoman Teresa Watkins Brown	Unknown	✔
Riviera Beach Commissioner Tonya Davis Johnson	Unknown	✔
West Park Commissioner Felicia Brunson	Unknown	✔
Belle Glade Commissioner Johnny Burroughs	Unknown	✔
Panama City Commissioner Kenneth Brown	Unknown	✔
North Bay Village Commissioner Andreana Jackson	Unknown	✔
Lauderdale Lakes Commissioner Sandra Davey	Unknown	✔
Dania Beach Commissioner Bobbie Grace	Unknown	✔
Broward County School Board Member Rosalind Osgood	Unknown	✔
Lake Worth City Commissioner Omari Hardy	Unknown	✔
Organizations
Florida National Organization of Women PAC^[90]	August 20, 2018		✔
Florida Democratic Party Disability Caucus^[91]	August 14, 2018		✔
The Miami Herald^[92]	August 11, 2018				✔
The Palm Beach Post^[93]	August 11, 2018		✔
The Everglades Trust^[94]	August 6, 2018		✔
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel^[95]	August 5, 2018			✔
The Tampa Bay Times^[96]	August 2, 2018		✔
UNITE HERE Florida^[97]	July 26, 2018				✔
The Indivisible Project^[98]	July 24, 2018	✔
Miami's Community Newspapers^[99]	July 20, 2018		✔
Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida^[100]	July 18, 2018	✔
Florida Immigrant Coalition^[100]	July 18, 2018	✔
NARAL Pro-Choice America^[101]	July 11, 2018		✔
The New Florida Majority^[102]	June 13, 2018	✔
Florida Education Association^[103]	June 8, 2018		✔
Progressive Change Campaign Committee^[104]	May 24, 2018	✔
Florida Police Benevolent Association^[105]	May 2, 2018		✔
American Federation of Government Employees^[106]	February 25, 2018					✔
Ruth's List	January 10, 2018		✔
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers	November 8, 2017		✔
Machinists and Aerospace Workers	August 15, 2017		✔
United Steel Workers	June 29, 2017		✔
Democracy for America	June 11, 2017	✔
Our Revolution^[107]	Unknown	✔
Collective PAC	Unknown	✔
People for the American Way (PFAW) Next Up Victory Fund	Unknown	✔
Other
Musician Jimmy Buffet^[108]		✔
Former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal^[109]	June 26, 2018				✔
Former NBA player Ray Allen^[110]	June 5, 2018				✔

Click here to see a list of endorsements in the August 28 Republican primary

Ron DeSantis
- Pres. Donald Trump^[111]^[112]
- Sean Hannity^[113]
- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R)^[114]
- Jose Oliva^[115]
- Freedom Partners Action Fund^[116]
- Rep. Travis Cummings (R)^[117]
- State Sen. Rob Bradley^[117]
- The Everglades Trust^[118]
- Puerto Rico Lt. Gov. Luis Rivera Marin (R)^[119]
- Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (R)^[120]

Adam Putnam
- Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida^[121]
- Police Benevolent Association^[122]
- Florida Chamber of Commerce^[123]
- State House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R)^[124]
- Florida Professional Firefighters^[125]
- Conservative Florida Family Action^[126]
- Florida Realtors PAC^[127]

Bob White
- Former Rep. Ron Paul (R)^[128]

Timeline

November 17, 2018: Gillum released a video where he conceded the race to DeSantis.^[129]
November 15, 2018: Deadline for counties to report automatic recount results to the Florida secretary of state. The machine recount of the governor's race showed DeSantis maintaining a 0.41 percentage point lead over Gillum.
November 10, 2018: Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner (R) ordered a recount in the gubernatorial election and the state's U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner elections. County election boards had been given until Nov. 10 to report unofficial results to the state.^[130] As of November 10, 2018, the unofficial results for the gubernatorial race showed DeSantis leading Gillum by 0.41 percentage points—within the 0.5 percent margin under which Florida law stipulates a recount is required. This was the first gubernatorial election in Florida history to go to a recount, according to the office of the Florida secretary of state.^[131]
November 7, 2018: After further vote counting put DeSantis' lead at less than 0.5 percentage points (the margin for an automatic machine recount), a Gillum spokesperson said, “On Tuesday night, the Gillum for Governor campaign operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots left to count. Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported.”^[130] Florida state law provides for automatic recounts when the margin of victory for a given office or measure is equal to or less than 0.5 percent of the total votes cast for that office or measure. If the margin of victory is equal to or less than 0.25 percent, a hand recount is ordered (automatic tabulators are otherwise used).
November 6, 2018: Gillum conceded the race to DeSantis on election night.^[130]
November 5, 2018: An NBC News/Marist University poll showed Gillum with 50 percent and DeSantis with 46 percent. The margin of error was 5.0 percentage points.
November 5, 2018: A St. Pete Polls survey commissioned by Florida Politics showed Gillum with 50 percent and DeSantis with 45 percent. The margin of error was 1.8 percentage points.
November 4, 2018: President Donald Trump (R) appeared at a rally with DeSantis in Pensacola.^[132]
November 3, 2018: Former President Barack Obama (D) appeared at a rally with Gillum in Miami.^[132]
November 1, 2018: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) appeared with DeSantis at an event in Miami.^[133]
November 1, 2018: A Cygnal poll showed Gillum and DeSantis each with 47 percent. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.
November 1, 2018: A SRSS poll commissioned by CNN showed Gillum with 49 percent and DeSantis with 48 percent. The margin of error was 4.3 percentage points.
October 31, 2018: A poll by the Trafalgar Group showed Gillum with 48 percent and DeSantis with 46 percent. The margin of error was 1.9 percentage points.
October 31, 2018: President Donald Trump (R) appeared at a rally with DeSantis in Fort Myers.^[132]
October 30, 2018: A Suffolk University poll showed Gillum with 45 percent and DeSantis with 44 percent. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.
October 30, 2018: A University of North Florida poll showed Gillum with 49 percent and DeSantis with 43 percent. The margin of error was 3.0 percentage points.
October 27, 2018: A New York Times/Siena College poll showed Gillum with 48 percent and DeSantis with 43 percent. The margin of error was 4.0 percentage points.
October 26, 2018: A CBS News/YouGov poll showed Gillum with 47 percent and DeSantis with 46 percent. The margin of error was 4.0 percentage points.
October 25, 2018: A Strategic Research Associates poll showed DeSantis with 48 percent and Gillum with 45 percent. The margin of error was 3.46 percentage points.
October 24, 2018: Gillum and DeSantis met in a debate at Broward College. Read more below.
October 24, 2018: A Florida Atlantic University poll showed Gillum with 41 percent and DeSantis with 37 percent. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points.
October 23, 2018: A Quinnipiac poll showed Gillum with 52 percent and DeSantis with 46 percent. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.
October 22, 2018: A SurveyUSA poll showed Gillum with 49 percent and DeSantis with 42 percent. The margin of error was 5.0 percentage points.
October 21, 2018: Gillum and DeSantis met in a debate on CNN. Read more below.
October 21, 2018: Two polls were released showing Gillum leading DeSantis outside the margin of error:
- A St. Pete Polls survey showed Gillum with 47 percent and DeSantis with 46 percent. The margin of error was 2.5 percentage points.
- An SEA Polling & Research poll showed Gillum with 48 percent and DeSantis with 42 percent. The margin of error was 4.0 percentage points.
- An SSRS poll commissioned by CNN showed Gillum with 54 percent and DeSantis with 42 percent. The margin of error was 4.2 percentage points.
October 20, 2018: NextGen Florida announced it would spend $1.2 million on digital ads to support Gillum.
October 18, 2018: Tom Steyer announced he would donate another $2 million to Gillum.^[17]
October 16, 2018: A St. Pete Polls survey showed Gillum leading DeSantis 47-46. The margin of error was 2.2 percentage points.
October 16, 2018: The Everglades Trust endorsed Ron DeSantis.
October 15, 2018: The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the next governor, not incumbent Rick Scott (R), would nominate replacements for state Supreme Court Justices Barbara J. Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and Peggy Quince, all of whom were appointed by Gov. Lawton Chiles (D).
October 8, 2018: Florida Southern College released a poll showing Gillum leading DeSantis 47-44. The margin of error was 4.5 percentage points.
October 5, 2018: The Miami Herald reported that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would campaign with Andrew Gillum and donate $250,000 to his campaign.^[19]
October 3, 2018: The Florida Police Benevolent Association endorsed Ron DeSantis.
October 3, 2018: A Strategic Research Associates poll commissioned by WCTV-TV found Gillum leading DeSantis 44-43. The margin of error was 3.46 percentage points.
October 2, 2018: A St. Pete Polls survey commissioned by Florida Politics found Andrew Gillum leading Ron DeSantis 47-45. The margin of error was 2 percentage points.
October 1, 2018: Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló endorsed Andrew Gillum.
October 1, 2018: Former President Barack Obama (D) endorsed Andrew Gillum.
September 29, 2018: The Sun-Sentinel endorsed Andrew Gillum.
September 26, 2018: The Hill reported that Hillary Clinton would campaign with Gillum.^[44]
September 26, 2018: A Quinnipiac University poll was released showing Gillum leading DeSantis 54 - 45 among likely voters. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.
September 25, 2018: The New York Times reported that Tom Steyer's political organizations would spend more than $5 million in support of Gillum.
September 25, 2018: An NBC News/Marist poll showed Gillum leading DeSantis 48-43 among likely voters. The margin of error was 4.7 percentage points.
September 24, 2018: A University of North Florida poll showed Gillum leading DeSantis 47-43 among likely voters. The margin of error was 3.9 percentage points.
September 19, 2018: A Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics poll showed Gillum leading DeSantis 50-44 among likely voters. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.
September 19, 2018: A Florida Atlantic University poll showed Gillum leading DeSantis 41-39. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.
September 14, 2018: The Republican Governors Association began a $4 million ad buy that highlighted DeSantis' participation in the Little League World Series as a child.^[33]
September 12, 2018: A Cherry Communications survey commissioned by the Florida Chamber of Commerce showed Andrew Gillum with 47 percent, Ron DeSantis with 43 percent, and 10 percent of voters undecided. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.
September 10, 2018: Ron DeSantis announced that he was retroactively resigning from his seat in Congress, effective September 1, 2018, to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. He represented Florida's 6th Congressional District.^[134]
September 4, 2018: A Quinnipiac University poll found Andrew Gillum with 50 percent and Ron DeSantis with 47 percent. The margin of error was 4.3 percentage points.

Policy stances

This section summarizes candidate positions on select policy issues discussed over the course of the election. If you are aware of a significant policy issue in this race, please email us.

Education policy

Andrew Gillum

On September 18, Gillum released his education platform.

Gillum called for increasing the corporate income tax from 5.5 percent to 7.75 percent, which he said he would raise an additional $1 billion for education funding.^[135]

He also said he would set starting teacher pay at $50,000, set other school faculty salaries at the national average for teacher pay, increase spending on early childhood education, establish technical and vocational training for students not planning to attend college, and end the state's scholarship program for charter schools and private schools.^[136]

Ron DeSantis

On September 18, DeSantis released his education platform.

He said he would require 80 percent of education spending be used in the classroom in order to cut waste and improve administrative inefficiency, ensure history curriculum did not contain what he called anti-Israel bias, and increase the amount of money that can be distributed through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, a voucher system for low-income students.^[136]

DeSantis also said he would develop a merit-based pay plan for teacher salaries and support magnet schools, independent chart schools, and other technology-based learning options.

Environmental policy

Andrew Gillum

On his campaign website, Gillum said, "the best way to address the impacts of climate change is to embrace a plan to transition Florida to clean energy as rapidly as possible."

Gillum also said he would implement state-level policies on water and air quality to respond to a potential rollback of the Clean Air and Water Act "so that corporate polluters are not allowed to spew unlimited amounts of mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide or other pollutants into our air and water."

Gillum said he would make the protection of Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades a top priority.^[137]

Ron DeSantis

On September 12, DeSantis unveiled his environmental platform while visiting the Everglades.

His platform included plans to stop toxic algae discharges from Lake Okeechobee, construct a reservoir south, leverage his relationship with President Donald Trump to secure $200 million per year for Everglades restoration, and assemble a task force of marine experts to study Florida’s red tide.

DeSantis said he would work with local governments to "prioritize sustainable growth and flood mitigation efforts and rising sea levels" and said climate change was better addressed at the federal level. DeSantis also said he opposed offshore drilling and fracking.^[138]

Healthcare policy

Andrew Gillum

Gillum outlined his healthcare policy proposals on his website and in news reports:^[9]

His website said, "Andrew believes that Senator Sanders’ Medicare for All plan will help lower costs and expand coverage to more Floridians."^[9]

Gillum told CBS News on October 23, "I do not believe a state can accomplish [Medicare for All] on its own. If a state did, it would probably find itself bankrupt pretty quickly, and largely because in a state like Florida, as you get the sickest pool coming to one location, the system would collapse under the weight of it." He added, "If states were to make that move, the options might be to find a consortium of states who might be able to come together -- cull together the buying power and the negotiating power of a collection of states to figure out whether or not we could in fact increase access and lower costs."^[8]

Gillum also proposed expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, preventing individuals with pre-existing conditions from being denied coverage or being charged more, and preventing cost discrimination based on gender.^[9]

Ron DeSantis

DeSantis unveiled his healthcare platform on October 24 in a televised debate and on his campaign website.^[139]^[140]

Among his proposals were:

Ensure access to medical care regardless of pre-existing conditions
Allow patients to buy a wider variety of insurance plans and increase cost transparency
Finish implementing Florida's medicial marijuana constitutional amendment, which first passed in 2016, so that patients have alternatives to opioids
Protect Florida hospitals that serve a higher proportion of Medicaid patients
Keep the state's Medicaid managed care model rather than expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Andrew Gillum

Support

"Skills" - Gillum campaign ad released October 23, 2018

"One Thing" - Florida Conservation Voters digital ad released October 19, 2018

"One Thing" - Gillum campaign ad released October 16, 2018

"Tell You" - Gillum campaign ad released October 11, 2018

"Sheriff Walt McNeil Condemns Ron DeSantis Hurricane of Lies" - Gillum campaign ad released October 5, 2018

"Priorities" - Gillum campaign ad released October 3, 2018

"Protection" - Gillum campaign ad released October 1, 2018

"Wake Them Up" - Priorities USA digital ad released September 20, 2018

"Mejor Futuro" - Gillum campaign ad released September 28, 2018

"Healthcare Should Be a Right, Not A Privilege" - Gillum campaign ad released September 26, 2018

"My Grandmother's Voice" - Gillum campaign ad released September 13, 2018

"American Way" - Gillum campaign ad released September 4, 2018

Oppose

"Corruption" - RGA ad released October 18

"Kathryn" - Florida GOP campaign ad released October 3

"Allison" - Florida GOP campaign ad released October 3

"Sudden Stop" - Republican Governors Association campaign ad released October 3

"Miseria" - Florida GOP campaign ad released October 2

"Too Radical" - Republican Governors Association campaign ad released September 25

"Too Far" - Republican Governors Association campaign ad released September 12

Ron DeSantis

Support

"Gran" - Republican Party of Florida ad released October 12, 2018

"Intereses" - Republican Party of Florida ad released October 12, 2018

"Lo Conozco" - Republican Party of Florida ad released October 12, 2018

"Way of life" - Republican Party of Florida ad released September 25, 2018

"Go to Bat" - Republican Governors Association campaign ad released September 13, 2018

"Ir Al Bate" - Republican Governors Association campaign ad released September 13, 2018

Oppose

"Apprentice" - Florida Democratic Party campaign ad released October 23

"Working" - Gillum campaign ad released October 15

"Everybody" - Gillum campaign ad released September 26

Campaign tactics and strategies

Gillum's response to Hurricane Hermine

On October 3, the Florida GOP released two ads criticizing Andrew Gillum's response to Hurricane Hermine in 2016. The ads claimed that Gillum had refused help for restoring power. At the time of the incident, Gillum denied that he knew about the offers of help and the chief of utilities for the city said he declined the offers of help because it would have created coordination issues with city officials.^[141]

"Kathryn" - Florida GOP campaign ad released October 3

"Allison" - Florida GOP campaign ad released October 3

Gillum released a response ad where Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said, “I’m disappointed Ron DeSantis is lying about Mayor Andrew Gillum and I’m appalled he’s using hurricanes to score political points.” He added that he believed Gillum “led our city courageously.”^[142]

"Sheriff Walt McNeil Condemns Ron DeSantis Hurricane of Lies" - Gillum campaign ad released October 5, 2018

Involvement by President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump endorsed Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary and held a rally for him ahead of the primary. After the primary he tweeted the following:

Not only did Congressman Ron DeSantis easily win the Republican Primary, but his opponent in November is his biggest dream....a failed Socialist Mayor named Andrew Gillum who has allowed crime & many other problems to flourish in his city. This is not what Florida wants or needs!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018

Trump again spoke of the race at a September 6 rally in Montana. He said, "In Florida the Democrat nominee for governor wants to abolish ICE and release hundreds of criminals onto our streets. He wants to also take care of their Medicare and every other thing you can take care of. You name it, he wants to take care of it and Florida will be a disaster. You have a great candidate in Florida. It's called the Republican candidate: Ron DeSantis. Ron for governor. This election is a choice between Democrats who want to abolish ICE and Republicans who want to abolish MS-13. It's very simple."^[143]

Gillum responded with the following tweet:

Heard @realDonaldTrump went after me again tonight — in Montana — but still didn't have the courage to @ me by name.

Mr. President, my name is Andrew Gillum and I'm going to be the next Governor of Florida because lies and scare tactics don't vote, people do.
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) September 7, 2018

Gillum campaigning with Hillary Clinton

2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D) appeared at a campaign event with Andrew Gillum on October 23.^[144]

Noteworthy events

Florida Supreme Court vacancies

On October 15, 2018, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that only the next governor, not incumbent Rick Scott (R), could appoint replacements for state Supreme Court Justices Barbara J. Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and Peggy Quince, all whom retired after their terms ended on January 7, 2019. Pariente and Lewis were appointed by Gov. Lawton Chiles (D) in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Quince's appointment was a joint decision between Chiles and incoming Gov. Jeb Bush (R) in December 1998. As of October 2018, there were seven members on the state Supreme Court, including the three Chiles appointees, three appointees from Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected as a Republican but later switched to the Democratic Party, and one appointee from Gov. Scott.^[145]

Scott had previously directed the state judicial nominating commission to submit nominations for him to fill the vacancies by November 10. The League of Women Voters sued him, claiming that he did not have the authority to replace justices who had not yet left office.^[145] The judicial nominating commission selects three to six nominees for each court vacancy and the governor decides which of the nominees to appoint. As of October 2018, five of the nine members on the commission were appointed by Gov. Scott and four were selected by Scott from a list provided by the Florida Bar Association.^[146]

David Smiley of the Tribune News Service wrote, "Republican Ron DeSantis or Democrat Andrew Gillum will control the tilt of the seven-member court, potentially swaying a generation of precedent-setting legal opinions on issues like labor, school vouchers, gun rights and healthcare."^[145]

A spokeswoman for EMILY's List said, "November's election already held huge consequences for women and families across Florida. Now, the stakes couldn't be higher."

A spokesman for the Florida GOP said, "With a 4-3 majority currently, the liberals have owned the Florida Supreme Court for decades. Now, THREE of the liberal Justices are facing mandatory retirement and either Ron DeSantis or Andrew Gillum will replace them."^[147]

Gillum released the following statement following the decision, “I am pleased the Florida Supreme Court has brought closure to this important issue finding, as we have consistently stated, that the next Governor of Florida will appoint the next three Supreme Court justices. It is a duty I take extremely seriously and, as Governor, one of my top priorities will be to restore integrity to the judicial nominating process.”^[148]

A spokesman for DeSantis said, "If Andrew Gillum is elected, out-of-state, radical groups would pressure him to appoint activist judges who would legislate from the bench to fit their own ideology. The consequences of this would be felt for generations, and it would be dangerous for every person in our state."^[147]

DeSantis hires new campaign chair

On September 26, DeSantis hired Republican strategist and lobbyist Susie Wiles as his new campaign chair. Upon being hired, Wiles said, "Every campaign is a challenge. Every day there are ups and downs. But the work is important and Ron is the best thing for Florida. I'm going to give it everything I've got to help him get to the finish line."^[149]

Adam Corey releases documents about Gillum

On October 23 and 24, multiple media outlets reported that documents from lobbyist Adam Corey contained texts where Gillum seemed to acknowledge that Mike Miller, a person believed to be an undercover FBI agent, purchased tickets for Gillum and Corey to see the Broadway musical Hamilton while in New York City in August 2016.^[150]^[151]^[152]^[153]

“Just checking in with you. Mike Miller and the crew have tickets for us for Hamilton tonight at 8 p.m.,” Corey texted Gillum.

Gillum replied, “awesome news about Hamilton.”

Gillum said he believed his brother Marcus paid for the tickets. He said, “These records vindicate and add more evidence that at every turn I was paying my own way or was with my family, for all trips, including picking up tickets from my brother, Marcus, who was with a group of his own friends.”^[150]

DeSantis commented on the release of the text messages, saying, "Andrew's running on impeaching Trump. OK, I mean, I don't know what for. Trump did not receive a free Hamilton ticket from an undercover FBI agent."^[151]

At a debate held October 24, Gillum said, "I was aware that Adam Corey and Mike Miller arranged so that we could go and see the show. I arrived at the theater and received my ticket from my brother. The problem that I have is that I should have asked more questions to make sure that everything that had transpired was above board. I was informed by my brother at the time that he gave Adam Corey tickets to a Jay-Z/Beyonce concert, which I understand they took later. And I understood that to have solved whatever the issue was with regard to the expenses associated with it. But I take responsibility for not having asked more questions. But let me tell you: I'm running for governor. In the state of Florida, we've got a lot of issues. In fact, we have 99 issues and 'Hamilton' ain't one of them."^[154]

Starting in 2015, the FBI opened a probe into public corruption in Tallahassee, where Gillum was elected mayor in 2014. Undercover agents posing as businessmen made contact with Corey, who allegedly used his influence to help the undercover agents receive development contracts.

Gillum said he was unaware of Corey's activities and that the FBI had told him he was not the subject of an investigation.^[155]

Debates and forums

Oct. 16 Telemundo debate (canceled)

Gillum and DeSantis were set to debate at an event hosted by Orlando television station Telemundo 31 at the Dr. Phillips Center.^[156]

On October 13, Gillum announced he would not attend the debate to focus on responding to Hurricane Michael as Tallahassee mayor. Gillum said, "In times like these, campaigning has to take a backseat to governing. My job is to keep our community safe and ensure Tallahassee recovers as quickly and fully as possible."^[157]

Oct. 21 CNN town hall

Gillum and DeSantis debated at a CNN town hall moderated by CNN anchor Jake Tapper.^[156]

Read roundups of the debate here:

"Gillum and DeSantis CNN debate" - October 21, 2018

Oct. 24 Leadership Florida debate

Gillum and DeSantis debated at an event hosted by Leadership Florida at Broward College.^[7]

Read roundups of the debate here:

"Gillum and DeSantis Broward College debate" - October 24, 2018

Campaign themes

Andrew Gillum

Gillum’s campaign website stated the following:

“

Criminal Justice Reform
Andrew believes that after someone pays the penalty for their mistake, they should be given a second chance. Too often, our society perpetually punishes people for one mistake, and creates barriers to positive re-entry. Andrew supports the legalization of marijuana in order to generate new revenue to pay for teacher and instructional staff pay increases and to reduce the mass incarceration of people with low-level drug offenses. Andrew wants to reform our bail system so that we stop disenfranchising people of lower economic means, and work with the legislature to find common ground on minimum sentencing reforms. His first priority as Governor will be appointing three new Supreme Court justices who share the values of this state, and he’ll appoint diverse, qualified judges who represent the breadth and depth of people in this state.

One of Andrew’s first acts as Mayor was to usher in a new Ban the Box Policy to help former offenders find employment in the City, and he continued to fight for more programs focused on helping offenders and at-risk juveniles from falling deeper into the criminal justice system. Andrew believes that the best way to fight crime in any city is to ensure that every man or woman in a community has the chance to earn a good-paying job that allows them to support their family.

Andrew also launched Operation Safe Neighborhoods; a community collaborative focused on building stronger relationships between citizens and law enforcement, and better-applying resources in the City’s highest crime areas. Through increased investments in law enforcement, diversion and re-entry programs, and an expansion of human services in the highest crime areas of the City, Tallahassee is the safest it has been since 2013, including a 10%+ decrease in total crime.

As a City Commissioner, Andrew helped create the Palmer-Munroe Teen Center, equipped with the Community Connections Restorative Justice Program. This new center works with youth offenders to build non-violent communication skills within teens to help them adjust their life trajectory and make better choices. The program has resulted in a 90%+ success rate among recidivism rates for youth who complete the program.

Economy and Jobs
Nearly half of Florida’s households struggle to make ends meet, and as the son of a bus driver and construction worker, Andrew knows firsthand what it’s like to have your parents choose between which bills to pay before a service gets cut off.

As Governor, he will address the devastating inequality that has hurt our working families, who are forced to live paycheck to paycheck and feel that the opportunity to get ahead isn’t available to them anymore. Andrew has proposed the “Fair Share for Florida’s Future” Plan to finally make real investments in our public schools and working families — and ask the richest corporations to pay a little more of their fair share.

By adjusting our state corporate tax level to a modest 7.75%, which allows our richest corporations to receive a tax cut and keeps our corporate tax rate more than 1% lower than California, we’ll be able to recoup at least $1 billion and put it where we need it most — investing in our future.

The “Fair Share” plan calls for rebuilding our public schools, paying teachers a minimum starting salary of $50,000, investing in early childhood education programs, and investing in SHOP 2.0 and vocational training to help get workers the training they need for higher paying jobs. He wants to help working families get ahead, including pushing for family-friendly policies like paid family leave that help workers take care of their families.

Under Andrew’s leadership, Tallahassee is the fastest-growing economy per capita in Florida, and President Obama designated Tallahassee a TechHire city — at the time, one of 50 in the country and one of only two in the state of Florida — for being a leader in training workers to have advanced technical skills. He led Tallahassee’s successful push to become one of the only cities in Florida to eliminate the local business tax, saving businesses over $2 million per year, and inserted over $5 million back into local businesses through a utility rebate program.

Andrew took the lead on preparing for the future economy by welcoming innovative technology. He crafted policy templates for ridesharing and home-sharing that are mirrored around Florida.

Andrew believes that the Sunshine State should become the Solar Capital of the country, putting Floridians to work in jobs that cannot be outsourced overseas. A Gillum administration will also push for a plan for Florida’s economic future that doesn’t rely on tourism alone, but maximizes all the assets of our state, including our best asset — our people — to build Florida’s future economy.

Education
Andrew believes a quality, public education is still the best path to equal opportunity, but that Florida’s education reform has been a failure. Our education system and its over-reliance on high-stakes testing has failed our children, our parents, our teachers and our state. He has proposed a $1 billion investment in our public schools, students, and teachers to boost early childhood education, raise teachers’ starting salaries to $50,000, restore public school construction funds, and increase SHOP 2.0 vocational training. He also proposed the legalization and taxation of marijuana to generate badly-needed revenue so that all Florida teachers and staff can receive a pay raise up to the national average, veteran teachers can be compensated for their years of service, and so we can raise teachers’ starting salaries.

Andrew believes that instead of demonizing our teachers, we should be supporting them and paying them fairly to do one of the most difficult jobs on Earth — to mold, shape, and develop humanity. Teachers have earned a raise, and Andrew is the only candidate with a plan to achieve that.

As Governor, Andrew would work to rebuild Florida’s education system so that we can make sure our kids are ready for Kindergarten earlier. By third grade, 100% of kids in our state should be reading at grade level and as they progress, learning critical thinking skills to compete.

When our children graduate from high school they should have access to training for a career or a college education that won’t leave them with crippling debt. As Governor, Andrew would focus on making college debt free and encouraging businesses to share responsibility for educating the workforce they want to hire.

We need to invest in “SHOP 2.0” — a revitalization of vocational training in our public schools. We must integrate computer education into all of our vocational programs so that students can learn the skills they need to build a career and support a family.

Andrew’s strongly opposed to unaccountable, for-profit charter schools who want to use public dollars to enrich their executives.

Environment
Andrew believes that climate change is a real and urgent threat. Politicians like Donald Trump, who call it a “hoax,” and Governor Rick Scott, who banned the words “climate change” and “global warming,” are putting us and future generations of Floridians at risk. These politicians have failed to take action against climate change, with Florida having the most property at risk in the nation. Not only does their lack of action threaten the future of the planet, it also ignores an enormous economic opportunity to make the U.S. the world’s leader in clean energy and to put people to work at every rung of the income ladder.

Over the last two decades, Tallahassee has reduced its carbon emission intensity by 40%, and under his leadership, has reduced the carbon footprint of electricity users in the city by 20%. The Mayor has worked both as Mayor and City Commissioner to implement and improve programs like free residential and commercial audits, low-interest energy loans, and community outreach programs, as well breaking ground on the new 120-acre solar farm that will triple the City’s solar energy capacity.

Andrew believes that the best way to address the impacts of climate change is to embrace a plan to transition Florida to clean energy as rapidly as possible. Achieving this goal will put us on a path to a completely clean energy economy, creating thousands of new jobs in Florida, and cleaner air and healthier families.

Andrew is also deeply concerned with Donald Trump and the Republicans’ assault on the EPA and its critical role of protecting our children and families from toxic pollution. If Trump and the Republicans roll back critical safeguards like the Clean Air and Water Act, Andrew will act to make sure that Florida implements its own safeguards, so that corporate polluters are not allowed to spew unlimited amounts of mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide or other pollutants into our air and water.

This approach will sharply reduce toxic pollutants like carbon, mercury and sulfur dioxide. Doctors say this will dramatically reduce the rates of heart disease, asthma, respiratory diseases, and even cancer – especially for children and seniors. We have an obligation to do something now, so we don’t leave our children and grandchildren a planet that is damaged and polluted.

As Governor, Andrew will take on the challenge of rebuilding Florida into a more resilient state and protecting our natural resources that make Florida the nation’s number one tourist destination. Andrew will make protecting the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee a priority, work to keep our water clean from toxic algae blooms, and fight to protect Florida’s access to clean water sources.

Our state’s climate change crisis is not confined to our environment — it’s an economic challenge that is threatening homes and businesses, and if we simply leaned into this challenge, we could create good-paying jobs that you can’t outsource overseas. These jobs would allow people to better support their families as we manage the greatest environmental threat Florida faces. Governor Scott has turned his back on creating these jobs and the wages that come with them.

Gun Safety
Andrew is the only candidate who has fought the powerful gun lobby in court and won. He has beaten the gun lobby, including the National Rifle Association, to protect a law that bans firing a weapon in a city park — where our kids play and our families picnic.

In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy, Andrew led the charge for more common sense gun safety policies including a ban on assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and bump stocks; strengthening and requiring universal background checks for all gun sales; closing private sale loopholes; restricting gun access for the mentally ill and known foreign and domestic terrorists; closing the “Boyfriend Loophole” and prohibiting gun possession for those with felony and misdemeanor domestic violence and stalking convictions; and banning the purchase and possession of armor piercing bullets.

He led marches on Florida’s state capital arm-in-arm with college and high school students to demand real action on this national gun violence epidemic. He helped register high school students to vote in Broward County — only miles away from Parkland — to ensure those students have their voices heard this year. He has met with students, families, and community members affected by daily incidents of gun violence across the state, including in Tallahassee.

He believes that no mother or grandmother should fear walking into an airport. No father, son, or daughter should lose their life for meeting those they love for a night out. No parent should lose sleep wondering if a stray bullet will take their baby that day.

As Governor, Andrew will never back down from common sense solutions to keep our streets, parks, and schools safe from gun violence.

Healthcare
Andrew believes that healthcare should be a fundamental right, not a privilege. Instead, extreme politicians refuse to acknowledge that Floridians struggle every day to keep themselves and their families from going bankrupt due to the lack or cost of healthcare. Andrew believes that Senator Sanders’ Medicare for All plan will help lower costs and expand coverage to more Floridians. Gillum has promised to fight the new health care premium increases that are a result of President Trump, Rick Scott and Congressional Republicans trying to attack Obamacare.

The Trump Health Care Plan is disastrous, and Governor Rick Scott’s complicity in the development of this plan is unacceptable. Trumpcare is nothing more than a tax cut for millionaires and a rise in costs for everyone else. Hundreds of thousands of seniors would pay more for coverage and women who rely on Planned Parenthood will be denied coverage. Nearly 1.8 million Floridians stand to lose their healthcare by 2026 and it slashes Medicaid and Medicare.

Florida never received the opportunity to benefit from the full impact of the Affordable Care Act due to Governor Scott’s refusal to extend Medicaid to over 1 million Floridians. As Governor, Andrew will work to expand Medicaid and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Andrew has proposed passing a Florida law protecting people with pre-existing conditions from being denied coverage, being charged more for their care due to a pre-existing condition, or women being charged more than men. He was also the only candidate who proposed a law protecting women’s access to no-cost contraceptive care under Obamacare.

As Governor, Andrew will restore Floridians’ healthcare security — the knowledge that if something horrible happens to a loved one that they’ll be taken care of. The knowledge that if they were born with a genetic disorder or chronic illness, that they won’t be denied coverage, or face the inhumane choice between bankruptcy or healthcare.

With that security comes an entire economy of good-paying jobs around it. People visit their doctor; they speak with a nurse or specialist; they undergo a test or a scan — those all require skilled workers, machines, and facilities. As Governor, Andrew will restore healthcare security and rebuild our economy so that more Floridians have good-paying jobs in helping care for one another.

Immigration
Immigrants strengthen our society and have played a vital role in Florida becoming one of the leading economic states in the Union. Andrew is the only candidate for Governor who opposed both Donald Trump and Rick Scott’s policies that target immigrants.

During the child separation crisis, Andrew spoke out loudly and forcefully against the Trump Administration’s inhumane and cruel zero-tolerance policy that separated young children from their parents. Gillum held Rick Scott and the Republicans accountable for their silence during this fight, and demanded Rick Scott support S. 3036, the Keeping Families Together Act. Gillum canceled events to join protestors in Homestead, Florida who are marching against a child detention facility.

Andrew wants to remove the immoral family separation policies that have torn families apart and made us less safe. Donald Trump has turned ICE into a police and child separation agency — not a border enforcement agency that treats people humanely and compassionately. A decision between security or compassionate immigration policy is a false choice; we can have them both, and Andrew will fight for that as Governor.

President Trump’s attack on cities friendly to immigrants must end. His attacks are not a projection of strength, but a reflection of weakness. Trump’s actions are inconsistent with our highest values and cause us to shrink from our rich history as a nation of immigrants. As Governor, Andrew will continue to fight mass deportation policies that threaten to split families and hurt Florida’s economy.

Andrew has forcefully defended immigrants from all around the world, including Syrian refugees fleeing violence and Haitian-Americans who have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) here in the United States. He knows we must be a welcoming state for all people.

Andrew believes that a decision between security or compassionate immigration policy is a false choice; we can have them both. Immigrants attend public schools alongside our children and graduate as valedictorians and standout students. They are critical members of our state’s economy and greatly contribute to the culture of our society.

LGBTQ Equality
Andrew has always been a staunch supporter of LGBTQ rights during his years as a public leader. As a City Commissioner, Gillum led the charge to expand domestic partner benefits for City employees. As Mayor, when more than a dozen counties were refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Florida, Gillum raised his voice in opposition and extended an invitation for couples to get married in Florida’s capital – Tallahassee. In the wake of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy, he spoke up unapologetically for the victims and their families.

Despite the tremendous victory for equal rights that was achieved when the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a constitutional right in the United States, there still remains much work ahead to advance equality for LGBTQ Floridians. In Florida, gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual citizens may not be protected from discrimination in public or in the workplace from one county to the next.

As Governor, Andrew will work to address these issues through statewide policies that ensure equal treatment and equal rights for all Floridians from every corner of our state.

Puerto Rico
Mayor Gillum is proud to stand with our fellow citizens from Puerto Rico — both as they recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and as they strive for better-paying jobs, better-funded schools, and a state that puts everyday people first.

Andrew’s proud to have the endorsement of Congressman Luis Gutierrez, who is retiring after this Congress to live in Puerto Rico. Gutierrez was the first Latino ever elected to Congress from Illinois and he has been an unflinching advocate for the Puerto Rican community.

As Governor, Andrew will stand in the gap for our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters, including using his platform as Governor to advocate for new federal legislation and assistance. Gillum is a strong supporter of ensuring FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program is expanded for Puerto Ricans who were forced to leave after Hurricane Maria.

Gillum will push for FEMA to initiate the Disaster Housing Assistance Program, which helped provide affordable housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. He is a supporter of Senator Bill Nelson’s bill to initiate this program.

The Gillum Administration will push for licensing reciprocity in professional trades and higher education, as well as move for Florida to recognize Puerto Rican drivers licenses so that Puerto Ricans can return to their normal daily lives as soon as possible.

Affordable housing remains a significant, long-term problem in Florida, and Puerto Ricans have suffered greatly due to the constant raids on the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund. As Governor, Andrew will stop these raids and ensure the affordable housing is available, including advocating for local housing authorities to consider waiving rental eligibility requirements for those displaced by natural disasters.

Gillum will also increase the number of disaster assistance case managers across the state, and ensure that these managers are highly-integrated in their local communities so that citizens get the assistance they deserve. As part of his commitment to higher education, Andrew will provide free 2-year and 4-year college tuition for displaced Puerto Ricans.

Under Governor Gillum, Florida will be a welcoming place for all people, especially our fellow American citizens from Puerto Rico. We must never waver in our commitment to that community.

Women’s Rights
When women succeed, Florida succeeds. As Governor, Andrew would support the state legislature ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. Florida should make it clear that civil rights will not be denied based on gender.

Andrew believes Florida must have Equal Pay for Equal Work, so women are given an equal opportunity to succeed at every level. As Governor, Andrew would push for equal pay legislation that levels the playing field for women in the workplace. A Gillum administration will work to protect and encourage women-owned businesses and lead by example to hire the best and brightest women to help lead our state forward.

When Governor Rick Scott and the Republican legislature tried to defund Planned Parenthood, Andrew called them out for jeopardizing women’s health with ideological games. As Governor, Andrew will stop the Legislature from using women’s health as a political football. Andrew trusts women to make their own healthcare decisions with their doctor — not politicians — and he will oppose any attempt to make it harder for women to access quality healthcare. He is the only candidate to propose a law protecting women’s access to no-cost contraceptive care under Obamacare.

As Mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew launched a Family Friendly Workplaces program, with over 100 businesses from the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Priorities like paid sick days, work-sharing, health insurance, mental health programs, safe and clean breastfeeding rooms, on-site childcare centers and subsidies for childcare, attract talent and limit employee turnover. As Governor, Andrew will make Florida the best state in the country to live, work, and raise a family.

^[158]

”

—Andrew Gillum’s campaign website (2018)^[159]

Ron DeSantis

DeSantis’ campaign website stated the following:

“

Continue Florida’s Economic Momentum
Maintain Florida’s status as a low tax state by opposing tax increases and supporting a constitutional amendment requiring a supermajority vote in the Legislature to raise taxes
Reduce bureaucracy, eliminate unreasonable regulations and crack down on lawsuit abuse

Improve Education
Stop Common Core
Make American civics and study of the Constitution a priority
Promote skills-based education and vocational training
Enhance parental choice programs so that all Florida kids have access to a high-quality education

Stop Illegal Immigration
Enact E-verify to ensure a legal workforce and higher wages for Floridians
Do not allow sanctuary cities in Florida

Improve Water Quality and Safeguard Natural Resources
Protect our coasts by stopping toxic discharges from Lake Okeechobee and by storing and cleaning polluted water south of the Lake
Defend Florida’s coastline through beach restoration and flood mitigation
Restore the Everglades

End Judicial Activism
Appoint constitutional conservatives to the Florida Supreme Court

Defend our Rights
Defend the right to life by signing pro-life legislation into law
Stand up for law-abiding Floridians by defending their Second Amendment rights
Defend First Amendment speech rights against those in academia, media and politics who seek to silence conservatives
^[158]

”

—Ron DeSantis' campaign website (2018)^[160]

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Other 2018 statewide elections

See also: States with both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in 2018

This race took place in one of twenty-two states that held elections for both governor and U.S. Senate in 2018.

A table of where these elections occurred, the names of incumbents prior to the 2018 elections, and links to our coverage of these races can be viewed by clicking "[show]" on the banner below:

States holding both Gubernatorial and Senate elections in 2018
State	Incumbent Governor	Open Seat?	Incumbent Senator	Open Seat?
Arizona	Doug Ducey	No	Jeff Flake	Yes
California	Jerry Brown	Yes	Dianne Feinstein	No
Connecticut	Dan Malloy	Yes	Chris Murphy	No
Florida	Rick Scott	Yes	Bill Nelson	No
Hawaii	David Ige	No	Mazie Hirono	No
Maine	Paul LePage	Yes	Angus King	No
Maryland	Larry Hogan	No	Ben Cardin	No
Massachusetts	Charlie Baker	No	Elizabeth Warren	No
Michigan	Rick Snyder	Yes	Debbie Stabenow	No
Minnesota	Mark Dayton	Yes	Amy Klobuchar	No
Nebraska	Pete Ricketts	No	Deb Fischer	No
Nevada	Brian Sandoval	Yes	Dean Heller	No
New Mexico	Susana Martinez	Yes	Martin Heinrich	No
New York	Andrew Cuomo	No	Kirsten Gillibrand	No
Ohio	John Kasich	Yes	Sherrod Brown	No
Pennsylvania	Tom Wolf	No	Bob Casey, Jr.	No
Rhode Island	Gina Raimondo	No	Sheldon Whitehouse	No
Tennessee	Bill Haslam	Yes	Bob Corker	Yes
Texas	Greg Abbott	No	Ted Cruz	No
Vermont	Phil Scott	No	Bernie Sanders	No
Wisconsin	Scott Walker	No	Tammy Baldwin	No
Wyoming	Matt Mead	Yes	John Barrasso	No

Republican winning streak

See also: Winning streaks in 2018 gubernatorial elections

DeSantis' victory in the general election was the sixth in a series beginning with Jeb Bush's (R) victory in 1998, continuing a record-long Republican winning streak in Florida gubernatorial elections. The longest Democratic winning streak in state history was 13 elections, occurring between 1920 and 1964.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Four of 67 Florida counties—6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Jefferson County, Florida	5.06%	1.75%	3.66%
Monroe County, Florida	6.82%	0.44%	4.90%
Pinellas County, Florida	1.11%	5.65%	8.25%
St. Lucie County, Florida	2.40%	7.86%	12.12%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Florida with 49 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 47.8 percent. Florida was considered a key battleground state in the 2016 general election. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Florida voted Democratic 56.67 percent of the time and Republican 43.33 percent of the time. Florida went to the Republicans in 2000, 2004, and 2016, and it went to the Democrats in 2008 and 2012.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Florida. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[161]^[162]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 55 out of 120 state House districts in Florida with an average margin of victory of 29.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 54 out of 120 state House districts in Florida with an average margin of victory of 30.3 points. Clinton won 14 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 65 out of 120 state House districts in Florida with an average margin of victory of 17.7 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 66 out of 120 state House districts in Florida with an average margin of victory of 21.1 points. Trump won two districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	36.20%	62.79%	R+26.6	34.08%	62.44%	R+28.4	R
2	40.60%	58.27%	R+17.7	39.85%	55.53%	R+15.7	R
3	22.07%	76.75%	R+54.7	19.63%	76.01%	R+56.4	R
4	25.64%	73.07%	R+47.4	24.90%	69.68%	R+44.8	R
5	25.87%	73.02%	R+47.2	21.51%	76.01%	R+54.5	R
6	28.12%	70.72%	R+42.6	25.59%	70.40%	R+44.8	R
7	35.78%	63.03%	R+27.3	29.54%	67.81%	R+38.3	R
8	76.69%	22.32%	D+54.4	74.29%	22.33%	D+52	D
9	52.23%	46.70%	D+5.5	52.98%	42.92%	D+10.1	D
10	29.54%	69.49%	R+40	24.47%	73.15%	R+48.7	R
11	29.10%	69.98%	R+40.9	28.75%	67.52%	R+38.8	R
12	38.82%	60.18%	R+21.4	39.91%	55.90%	R+16	R
13	66.27%	33.01%	D+33.3	64.06%	33.01%	D+31.1	D
14	67.05%	32.34%	D+34.7	64.74%	32.99%	D+31.8	D
15	43.22%	55.85%	R+12.6	43.85%	52.54%	R+8.7	R
16	36.02%	63.09%	R+27.1	38.53%	57.46%	R+18.9	R
17	29.91%	69.15%	R+39.2	31.55%	64.91%	R+33.4	R
18	27.33%	71.82%	R+44.5	27.27%	69.17%	R+41.9	R
19	31.02%	68.02%	R+37	25.79%	71.54%	R+45.8	R
20	65.02%	33.40%	D+31.6	63.38%	32.58%	D+30.8	D
21	47.01%	51.55%	R+4.5	47.92%	47.87%	D+0.1	R
22	40.28%	58.79%	R+18.5	35.09%	62.28%	R+27.2	R
23	38.65%	60.23%	R+21.6	31.70%	65.06%	R+33.4	R
24	41.79%	57.34%	R+15.6	35.96%	61.17%	R+25.2	R
25	43.38%	55.73%	R+12.4	37.23%	59.47%	R+22.2	R
26	57.57%	41.40%	D+16.2	49.01%	47.49%	D+1.5	D
27	50.25%	48.70%	D+1.6	42.51%	54.04%	R+11.5	R
28	46.01%	52.86%	R+6.9	46.02%	49.59%	R+3.6	R
29	44.35%	54.70%	R+10.4	45.97%	50.16%	R+4.2	R
30	50.06%	48.88%	D+1.2	51.93%	43.61%	D+8.3	R
31	40.55%	58.49%	R+17.9	37.12%	59.50%	R+22.4	R
32	43.05%	56.11%	R+13.1	40.66%	56.10%	R+15.4	R
33	33.03%	66.40%	R+33.4	29.41%	68.70%	R+39.3	R
34	38.74%	60.18%	R+21.4	28.67%	68.26%	R+39.6	R
35	45.66%	53.25%	R+7.6	34.40%	62.35%	R+28	R
36	51.81%	46.55%	D+5.3	37.97%	58.18%	R+20.2	R
37	42.35%	56.41%	R+14.1	34.77%	61.75%	R+27	R
38	44.80%	54.00%	R+9.2	39.90%	56.32%	R+16.4	R
39	43.29%	55.62%	R+12.3	38.74%	57.77%	R+19	R
40	46.30%	52.68%	R+6.4	41.48%	54.62%	R+13.1	R
41	48.78%	50.29%	R+1.5	45.76%	51.24%	R+5.5	R
42	49.88%	49.23%	D+0.7	46.82%	49.98%	R+3.2	R
43	74.04%	25.31%	D+48.7	73.13%	24.03%	D+49.1	D
44	45.77%	53.48%	R+7.7	51.21%	45.05%	D+6.2	R
45	68.39%	30.95%	D+37.4	67.75%	29.32%	D+38.4	D
46	85.10%	14.40%	D+70.7	82.72%	14.71%	D+68	D
47	49.79%	49.04%	D+0.8	53.85%	41.40%	D+12.5	R
48	71.31%	27.89%	D+43.4	71.71%	25.05%	D+46.7	D
49	59.87%	38.85%	D+21	61.07%	33.94%	D+27.1	D
50	46.33%	52.71%	R+6.4	46.10%	49.78%	R+3.7	R
51	43.21%	55.60%	R+12.4	37.31%	58.51%	R+21.2	R
52	39.39%	59.51%	R+20.1	36.49%	59.05%	R+22.6	R
53	48.93%	49.90%	R+1	42.52%	53.45%	R+10.9	R
54	39.76%	59.51%	R+19.8	37.01%	60.11%	R+23.1	R
55	38.22%	60.83%	R+22.6	31.47%	66.00%	R+34.5	R
56	41.15%	57.81%	R+16.7	35.36%	61.69%	R+26.3	R
57	42.15%	56.94%	R+14.8	42.01%	54.38%	R+12.4	R
58	46.77%	52.09%	R+5.3	43.06%	53.20%	R+10.1	R
59	49.52%	49.33%	D+0.2	47.68%	48.08%	R+0.4	R
60	45.69%	53.23%	R+7.5	47.16%	48.50%	R+1.3	R
61	84.25%	14.95%	D+69.3	80.00%	16.79%	D+63.2	D
62	64.91%	34.12%	D+30.8	63.03%	33.28%	D+29.8	D
63	52.82%	46.09%	D+6.7	53.22%	42.91%	D+10.3	R
64	43.41%	55.66%	R+12.3	43.51%	52.80%	R+9.3	R
65	45.20%	53.72%	R+8.5	41.15%	55.05%	R+13.9	R
66	47.12%	51.78%	R+4.7	41.07%	55.29%	R+14.2	R
67	52.12%	46.53%	D+5.6	45.78%	49.98%	R+4.2	R
68	54.01%	44.56%	D+9.5	50.98%	44.15%	D+6.8	D
69	51.25%	47.57%	D+3.7	46.57%	49.53%	R+3	R
70	79.17%	20.00%	D+59.2	73.65%	23.39%	D+50.3	D
71	45.45%	53.64%	R+8.2	42.72%	53.89%	R+11.2	R
72	47.80%	51.26%	R+3.5	46.03%	50.71%	R+4.7	D
73	37.59%	61.60%	R+24	35.82%	61.14%	R+25.3	R
74	42.64%	56.48%	R+13.8	37.10%	60.20%	R+23.1	R
75	42.40%	56.68%	R+14.3	34.70%	62.49%	R+27.8	R
76	35.45%	64.01%	R+28.6	35.24%	61.90%	R+26.7	R
77	41.60%	57.61%	R+16	36.05%	60.86%	R+24.8	R
78	44.44%	54.88%	R+10.4	42.96%	53.85%	R+10.9	R
79	45.93%	53.26%	R+7.3	39.89%	57.01%	R+17.1	R
80	38.79%	60.51%	R+21.7	36.96%	60.49%	R+23.5	R
81	60.36%	39.13%	D+21.2	59.06%	39.12%	D+19.9	D
82	38.70%	60.58%	R+21.9	36.91%	60.22%	R+23.3	R
83	48.78%	50.42%	R+1.6	43.71%	53.43%	R+9.7	R
84	53.34%	45.89%	D+7.5	47.96%	49.59%	R+1.6	D
85	47.28%	52.04%	R+4.8	44.74%	52.71%	R+8	R
86	58.97%	40.46%	D+18.5	56.40%	41.24%	D+15.2	D
87	68.41%	30.79%	D+37.6	65.09%	32.03%	D+33.1	D
88	82.26%	17.18%	D+65.1	78.19%	19.67%	D+58.5	D
89	47.47%	51.83%	R+4.4	48.96%	48.44%	D+0.5	R
90	62.95%	36.37%	D+26.6	59.38%	38.20%	D+21.2	D
91	58.67%	40.92%	D+17.8	59.17%	39.23%	D+19.9	D
92	74.08%	25.42%	D+48.7	71.50%	26.66%	D+44.8	D
93	47.43%	51.88%	R+4.5	48.32%	49.43%	R+1.1	R
94	83.50%	16.05%	D+67.5	81.01%	17.21%	D+63.8	D
95	86.68%	12.99%	D+73.7	85.09%	13.47%	D+71.6	D
96	61.11%	38.32%	D+22.8	60.59%	37.30%	D+23.3	D
97	65.66%	33.79%	D+31.9	65.26%	32.41%	D+32.9	D
98	60.99%	38.39%	D+22.6	61.02%	36.58%	D+24.4	D
99	61.62%	37.75%	D+23.9	59.47%	38.07%	D+21.4	D
100	57.57%	41.85%	D+15.7	58.15%	39.86%	D+18.3	D
101	79.29%	20.19%	D+59.1	76.54%	21.27%	D+55.3	D
102	85.86%	13.86%	D+72	83.21%	15.08%	D+68.1	D
103	54.82%	44.76%	D+10.1	58.71%	39.21%	D+19.5	R
104	58.34%	41.21%	D+17.1	62.33%	35.40%	D+26.9	D
105	53.14%	46.37%	D+6.8	56.16%	41.22%	D+14.9	R
106	31.21%	68.26%	R+37.1	33.84%	63.71%	R+29.9	R
107	86.16%	13.52%	D+72.6	83.68%	14.67%	D+69	D
108	89.58%	10.12%	D+79.5	87.11%	11.24%	D+75.9	D
109	90.13%	9.58%	D+80.6	86.38%	12.14%	D+74.2	D
110	50.15%	49.43%	D+0.7	52.71%	45.14%	D+7.6	R
111	47.97%	51.64%	R+3.7	52.16%	45.66%	D+6.5	R
112	53.53%	45.94%	D+7.6	61.62%	35.70%	D+25.9	D
113	63.42%	35.97%	D+27.5	67.40%	30.24%	D+37.2	D
114	50.14%	49.27%	D+0.9	55.75%	41.60%	D+14.2	D
115	49.45%	50.03%	R+0.6	54.08%	43.37%	D+10.7	R
116	44.48%	55.04%	R+10.6	50.91%	46.43%	D+4.5	R
117	82.64%	17.02%	D+65.6	78.36%	19.57%	D+58.8	D
118	51.39%	48.14%	D+3.3	54.87%	42.54%	D+12.3	D
119	50.32%	49.20%	D+1.1	55.15%	42.23%	D+12.9	R
120	52.28%	46.85%	D+5.4	49.21%	47.52%	D+1.7	R
Total	50.01%	49.13%	D+0.9	47.82%	49.02%	R+1.2	-
Source: Daily Kos

Election history

2014

See also: Florida Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Florida, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rick Scott/Carlos Lopez-Cantera Incumbent	48.1%	2,865,343
	Democratic	Charlie Crist/Annette Taddeo-Goldstein	47.1%	2,801,198
	Libertarian	Adrian Wyllie/Greg Roe	3.8%	223,356
	No Party Affiliation	Glenn Burkett/Jose Augusto Matos	0.7%	41,341
	No Party Affiliation	Farid Khavari/Lateresa Jones	0.3%	20,186
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	137
Total Votes				5,951,561
Election results via Florida Division of Elections

2010

See also: Florida gubernatorial election, 2010

Florida Gubernatorial/Lt. Gubernatorial General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rick Scott/Jennifer Carroll	48.9%	2,619,335
	Democratic	Alex Sink/Rod Smith	47.7%	2,557,785
	Independent	Peter L. Allen/John E. Zanni	2.3%	123,831
	No Party Affiliation	C.C. Reed/Larry Waldo, Sr.	0.4%	18,842
	No Party Affiliation	Michael E. Arth/Al Krulick	0.3%	18,644
	No Party Affiliation	Daniel Imperato/Karl Behm	0.3%	13,690
	No Party Affiliation	Farid Khavari/Darcy G. Richardson	0.1%	7,487
	Write-in	Josue Larouse/Valencia St. Louis	0%	121
Total Votes				5,359,735
Election results via Florida Department of State

Wave election analysis

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to gubernatorial elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose seven seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 11 gubernatorial waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

Gubernatorial wave elections
Year	President	Party	Election type	Gubernatorial seats change	Elections analyzed^[163]
1970	Nixon	R	First midterm	-12	35
1922	Harding	R	First midterm	-11	33
1932	Hoover	R	Presidential	-10	35
1920	Wilson	D	Presidential	-10	36
1994	Clinton	D	First midterm	-10	36
1930	Hoover	R	First midterm	-9	33
1938	Roosevelt	D	Second midterm	-9	33
1966	Johnson	D	First midterm^[164]	-9	35
1954	Eisenhower	R	First midterm	-8	33
1982	Reagan	R	First midterm	-7	36
2010	Obama	D	First midterm	-7	33

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Florida heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

Following the 2016 elections, Democrats and Republicans each held one U.S. Senate seat in Florida.
Republicans held 16 of 27 U.S. House seats in Florida.

State executives

As of September 2018, Republicans held six out of nine state executive positions. The other three positions were held by nonpartisan officials.
The governor of Florida was Republican Rick Scott. The state held elections for governor and lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018.

State legislature

Republicans controlled both chambers of the Florida State Legislature. They had a 22-16 majority in the state Senate and a 75-41 majority in the state House.

Trifecta status

Florida was under Republican trifecta control since the governor was a Republican and both chambers of the Florida State Legislature were under Republican control.

2018 elections

See also: Florida elections, 2018

Florida held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for Florida
	Florida	U.S.
Total population:	20,244,914	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	53,625	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	76%	73.6%
Black/African American:	16.1%	12.6%
Asian:	2.6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	23.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	86.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$47,507	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2017, Florida's three largest cities were Jacksonville (pop. est. 860,000), Miami (pop. est. 430,000), and Tampa (pop. est. 360,000).^[165]^[166]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Florida from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Florida Department of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Florida every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Florida 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	49.0%	Hillary Clinton	47.8%	1.2%
2012	Barack Obama	50.0%	Mitt Romney	49.1%	0.9%
2008	Barack Obama	51.0%	John McCain	48.2%	2.8%
2004	George W. Bush	52.10%	John Kerry	47.09%	5.01%
2000	George W. Bush	48.847%	Al Gore	48.838%	0.009%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Florida from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Florida 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Marco Rubio	52.0%	Patrick Murphy	44.3%	7.7%
2012	Bill Nelson	55.2%	Connie Mack	42.2%	13.0%
2010	Marco Rubio	48.9%	Charlie Crist	29.7%	19.2%
2006	Bill Nelson	60.3%	Katherine Harris	38.1%	22.2%
2004	Mel Martinez	49.4%	Betty Castor	48.3%	1.1%
2000	Bill Nelson	51.0%	Bill McCollum	46.2%	4.8%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Florida.

Election results (Governor/Lt. Governor), Florida 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Rick Scott/Carlos Lopez-Cantera	48.1%	Charlie Crist/Annette Taddeo-Goldstein	47.1%	1%
2010	Rick Scott/Jennifer Carroll	48.9%	Alex Sink/Rod Smith	47.7%	1.2%
2006	Charlie Crist/Jeff Kottkamp	52.2%	Jim Davis/Daryl Jones	45.1%	7.1%
2002	Jeb Bush/Frank Brogan	56.0%	Bill McBride/Tom Rossin	43.2%	12.8%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Florida in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Florida 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	17	62.9%	10	37.0%	R+7
2014	17	62.9%	10	37.0%	R+7
2012	17	62.9%	10	37.0%	R+7
2010	19	76.0%	6	24.0%	R+13
2008	15	60.0%	10	40.0%	R+5
2006	16	64.0%	9	36.0%	R+7
2004	18	66.7%	7	33.3%	R+11
2002	17	66.7%	8	33.3%	R+9
2000	15	57.9%	8	42.1%	R+7

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Florida Party Control: 1992-2024
One year of a Democratic trifecta • Twenty-five years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	I	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	S	S	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Florida gubernatorial election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Florida gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 - Google News

External links

Suggest a link

Footnotes

[1] Counties could add additional early voting days from October 22 through October 26 and/or November 4.

[2] Counties could add additional early voting days from October 22 through October 26 and/or November 4.

[3] Naples Daily News, "Andrew Gillum picks Chris King as running mate for governor matchup with DeSantis/ Nunez," September 6, 2018

[4] Naples Daily News, "DeSantis has chosen first female Cuban-American lieutenant governor running mate," September 5, 2018

[5] All about Redistricting, "Who draws the lines?" accessed January 24, 2018

[announce-6] Miami Herald, "Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum to announce for Florida governor," March 1, 2017

[debate-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 '"Florida Democratic Party, "Democratic Debate 2018," July 16, 2018 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "debate" defined multiple times with different content

[gillumwalkback-8] 8.0 ^8.1 CBS News, "Andrew Gillum says Florida can't do single-payer alone," October 23, 2018

[healthygillum-9] 9.0 ^9.1 ^9.2 ^9.3 Andrew Gillum for Governor, "Healthcare," accessed October 25, 2018

[10] YouTube, "Andrew Gillum," accessed August 16, 2018

[11] Tampa Bay Times, "Andrew Gillum hits Ron DeSantis over votes on Medicare, social security in new ad," October 16, 2018

[12] Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "DeSANTIS, Ron, (1978 - )," accessed February 5, 2015

[ronhome-13] 13.0 ^13.1 Ron DeSantis for Governor, "Home," accessed September 12, 2018

[14] Twitter, "Fox News on October 10, 2018"

[ronvideos-15] 15.0 ^15.1 YouTube, "Ron DeSantis," accessed September 12, 2018

[16] Miami Herald, "Gillum says his relationship with Florida’s Jewish community needs no defending," October 7, 2018

[twosteyer-17] 17.0 ^17.1 CNN, "Billionaire Tom Steyer to donate another $2 million to Andrew Gillum in Florida governor's race," October 18, 2018

[18] Miami New Times, "Betsy DeVos' Family Gave $200,000 to Ron DeSantis's PAC," October 17, 2018

[bloomberg-19] 19.0 ^19.1 Miami Herald, "Bloomberg giving $250K to Gillum as they campaign together in South Florida," October 5, 2018

[20] Sun-Sentinel, "Florida candidates tap into $6 million in tax dollars, topping record for public financing," October 3, 2018

[21] Politico, "Former GOP rainmaker gives $200K to Gillum," September 26, 2018

[22] New York Times, "Tom Steyer to Spend Millions Backing Andrew Gillum in Florida," September 25, 2018

[23] Tampa Bay Times, "Jeb Bush to help Ron DeSantis raise money next week in Coral Gables," September 14, 2018

[bigmoney-24] 24.0 ^24.1 Miami Herald, "National megadonors, with eyes on 2020, flood Florida governor’s race with cash," October 23, 2018

[definition-25] OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015

[stats-26] OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015

[27] National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015

[28] Twitter, "David Wright on October 5, 2018"

[29] Democratic Governors Association, "DGA Invests $1 Million in Mayor Andrew Gillum’s PAC, Forward Florida," August 30, 2018

[30] PBS, "The quiet evangelical campaign to help Republicans hold onto the House and Senate," September 17, 2018

[31] Florida Politics, "Environmental group spends big on Andrew Gillum pitch," October 22, 2018

[32] Sun Sentinel, "Election ad pitch to young voters: ‘Our chance to finally elect Florida’s first black governor,’" October 20, 2018

[baseball-33] 33.0 ^33.1 Tampa Bay Times, "GOP launches first DeSantis TV ad in general, references Dunedin baseball years," September 13, 2018

[34] Politico, "RGA's Florida committee books $7M in general election air time," September 4, 2018

[35] Twitter, "Matt Dixon on February 22, 2018," accessed March 26, 2018

[36] Twitter, "Daniel," February 15, 2018

[37] Florida Politics, "Progressive group repping Andrew Gillum, Bill Nelson in new ad buy," September 21, 2018

[38] Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.

[39] Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018

[40] Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018

[41] Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018

[42] Twitter, "Barack Obama on October 1, 2018"

[govern-43] Governing, "The Story Behind Andrew Gillum's Shocking Election Victory in Florida," August 29, 2018

[hrc-44] 44.0 ^44.1 The Hill, "Clinton plans to campaign with Gillum in Florida," September 26, 2018

[45] Orlando Sentinel, "Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló endorses Bill Nelson, Andrew Gillum," October 1, 2018

[46] Orlando Sentinel, "Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer endorses Andrew Gillum amid protests," October 4, 2018

[47] Politico, "De Blasio heads to Florida to campaign for Gillum," October 10, 2018

[48] YouTube, "Gran," October 12, 2018

[49] The Florida Times-Union, "Biden campaigns in Jacksonville for Democratic ticket," October 22, 2018

[50] Florida Chamber of Commerce, "Florida Chamber Endorses Ron DeSantis as Florida’s Next Governor," September 27, 2018

[51] Florida Politics, "Andrew Gillum among list of candidates backed by Brady Campaign," September 20, 2018

[52] Sun-Sentinel, "Police union endorses Republican Ron DeSantis for governor – four years after endorsing Democrat," October 3, 2018

[53] Politico, "Police union backs DeSantis, bashes Gillum as anti-cop over Dream Defenders ties," October 12, 2018

[environment-54] 54.0 ^54.1 ^54.2 Tampa Bay Times, "Everglades Trust endorses Ron DeSantis over Andrew Gillum," October 16, 2018

[55] Sun-Sentinel, "Help Florida. Elect Andrew Gillum as governor," September 29, 2018

[56] The Hill, "Miami Herald endorses Gillum for governor," October 21, 2018

[57] Orlando Sentinel, "Florida's Election 2018: Our endorsements for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and the amendments," October 19, 2018

[58] Andrew Gillum for Governor, "News," accessed March 20, 2018

[59] Gwen Graham for Governor, "Media Center," accessed March 20, 2018

[60] Florida Politics, "Former Puerto Rico Gov. Sila María Calderón Serra to join Philip Levine for Orlando tour," August 24, 2018

[61] Florida Politics, "Gwen Graham rolls out Alison Lundergan Grimes endorsement, Miami ad buy," August 21, 2018

[62] Twitter, "Bernie Sanders on August 1, 2018"

[63] Tampa Bay Times, "Gwen Graham gets Kathy Castor’s endorsement for governor in Tampa," accessed July 30, 2018

[64] Politico, "Steyer backs Gillum; Hassan for Graham — Putnam vs. DeSantis for governor of Trumplandia — Burning Curbelo — RIP Rob Hiaasen," June 29, 2018

[steyer-65] Politico, "Steyer boosts Gillum’s struggling campaign with $1M," June 28, 2018

[pmurp-66] Sun Sentinel, "Patrick Murphy decides not to run for governor, endorses Gwen Graham," June 7, 2018

[67] Florida Politics, "Andrew Gillum touts endorsement from California Congressman Ro Khanna," June 4, 2018

[68] Florida Politics, "Philip Levine announces Ed Rendell’s endorsement," March 15, 2018

[69] Tallahassee Democrat, "Soros gives $100K to Gillum's political committee," January 8, 2018

[levinelocal-70] 70.0 ^70.1 ^70.2 ^70.3 ^70.4 ^70.5 Florida Politics, "Philip Levine announces handful of local endorsements," July 26, 2018

[71] "Tampa Bay Times, "Gwen Graham campaign touts support from former CFO Alex Sink," accessed July 18, 2018

[72] Florida Politics, "Carlos Smith endorses Andrew Gillum in Governor’s race," April 6, 2018

[fitz-73] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named fitz

[74] Tampa Bay Times, "Betty Castor endorses Gwen Graham, takes shot at rival Philip Levine’s comments on work," January 11, 2018

[75] Florida Politics, "Chris King picks up Nick Duran’s endorsement in Democrats’ governor race," June 28, 2017

[76] Florida Politics, "Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer casts his vote for Gwen Graham," August 25, 2018

[77] Florida Politics, "Bob Buckhorn goes all-in for Gwen Graham," August 16, 2018

[78] Orlando Weekly, "San Juan mayor endorses Philip Levine for Florida governor," July 31, 2018

[79] Tampa Bay Times, "Aramis Ayala, Florida’s first elected African-American state attorney, endorses Andrew Gillum for governor," July 17, 2018

[millers-80] 80.0 ^80.1 Tampa Bay Reporter, "LES, GWEN MILLER ENDORSE GILLUM FOR GOVERNOR," July 13, 2018

[81] Florida Politics, "Panama City mayor backs Gwen Graham," July 13, 2018

[82] Sunshine State News, "Maurice Ferre Endorses Gwen Graham for Governor," June 26, 2018

[83] TB Reporter, "ST. PETE COUNCIL MEMBER ENDORSES LEVINE FOR GOVERNOR," June 21, 2018

[84] Florida Politics, "Fort Lauderdale mayor endorses Gwen Graham for governor," June 4, 2018

[85] WTXL, "Ziffer endorses Graham for 2018 gubernatorial election," March 21, 2018

[86] Political Cortadito,"Former Mayor Alex Penelas steps out again for Philip Levine for governor," November 15, 2017

[87] Palm Beach Post, "West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio makes her pick in governor’s race," November 1, 2017

[88] Florida Politics, "Chris King gets backing of Eatonville Mayor Eddie Cole," August 16, 2017

[89] Orlando Political Observer, "Video: Former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin endorses Chris King for Governor," June 13, 2017

[90] Florida Politics, "NOW backing Gwen Graham in Governor’s race," August 20, 2018

[91] Florida Politics, "Gwen Graham gets backing of Democrats’ disability caucus," August 14, 2018

[92] Miami Herald, "Here are the Miami Herald recommendations for the Aug. 28 primary," August 11, 2018

[93] Palm Beach Post, "Editorial: In Dem primary, Graham best shot to win in November," August 11, 2018

[94] Sun Sentinel, "Everglades champion and Big Sugar foe endorses Ron DeSantis and Gwen Graham in governor primaries," August 6, 2018

[95] Sun Sentinel, "Florida Democrats should nominate smart and savvy Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene for governor," August 5, 2018

[96] Tampa Bay Times, "Times recommends: For Democrats, Gwen Graham for governor," August 2, 2018

[97] Orlando Sentinel, "Unite Here Florida union endorses Phil Levine for governor," July 26, 2018

[98] Tampa Bay Times, "Andrew Gillum lands another endorsement from a national progressive group," July 24, 2018

[99] Miami's Community Newspapers," July 20, 2018

[gillumendorse-100] 100.0 ^100.1 Tampa Bay Times, "Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida endorses Andrew Gillum," accessed July 24, 2018

[101] Florida Politics, "Gwen Graham accepts NARAL endorsement," July 11, 2018

[102] Florida Politics, "New Florida Majority endorses Andrew Gillum in governor’s race," June 13, 2018

[103] Tampa Bay Times, "Gwen Graham called ‘dream candidate’ in teachers union endorsement," June 8, 2018

[104] Washington Post, "As well-funded Democrats seize ‘progressive’ label in gubernatorial races, progressive group endorses insurgent challengers," May 24, 2018

[105] Florida Politics, "Police association announces Governor, Cabinet endorsements," May 2, 2018

[106] Tampa Bay Times, "Union lines up behind Chris King for governor," February 25, 2018

[107] Our Revolution, "Andrew Gillum," accessed August 2, 2018

[108] Gwen Graham for Governor, "Jimmy Buffett to Host Get Out The Vote Concert for Gwen Graham," August 13, 2018

[109] Sun Sentinel, "Shaquille O’Neal makes endorsement in Florida governor’s race," June 26, 2018

[110] Florida Politics, "Ray Allen puts up best shot for Philip Levine," June 5, 2018

[111] Politico, "Trump endorses DeSantis for governor via Twitter," December 22, 2017

[112] Tampa Bay Times, "Trump tweets full endorsement of Ron DeSantis," June 22, 2018

[113] Tampa Bay Times, "Sean Hannity ‘completely supports’ Ron DeSantis for Florida governor," January 18, 2018

[114] Twitter, "Matt Gaetz," May 21, 2018

[115] Tampa Bay Times, "Ron DeSantis picks up key endorsement: Incoming Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva," accessed June 28, 2018

[116] Tampa Bay Times, "Koch-backed super PAC endorses Ron DeSantis for governor," July 10, 2018

[DeSantisendorse-117] 117.0 ^117.1 Tampa Bay Times, "State Sen. Rob Bradley, Rep. Travis Cummings endorse Ron DeSantis for governor," accessed August 9, 2018

[118] Sun Sentinel, "Everglades champion and Big Sugar foe endorses Ron DeSantis and Gwen Graham in governor primaries," August 6, 2018

[119] Orlando Sentinel, "Puerto Rico Lt. Gov. Luis Rivera Marín endorses Ron DeSantis for governor," August 13, 2018

[120] Florida Politics, "‘Brothers from a different mother’: Lenny Curry endorses Ron DeSantis," August 16, 2018

[121] Tampa Bay Times, "Adam Putnam lands a nice endorsement as rivals circle," July 28, 2017

[122] Tampa Bay Times, "Police union endorses Graham, Putnam in governor’s races," May 2, 2018

[123] Tampa Bay Times, "Florida’s largest business group endorses Putnam for governor," May 4, 2018

[124] Orlando Sentinel, "Corcoran bails on governor run, backs Putnam," May 9, 2018

[125] Florida Politics, "Firefighters endorse Adam Putnam, Sean Shaw, Denise Grimsley," June 15, 2018

[126] Sunshine State News, "Adam Putnam Endorsed by Conservative Florida Family Action," June 20, 2018

[127] The Capitolist, "Putnam picks up endorsement from Florida Realtors," July 10, 2018

[128] Florida Today, "Republican governor candidate White of Suntree endorsed by Ron Paul," May 4, 2018

[129] Tallahassee Democrat, "'This was not just about an election cycle': Andrew Gillum concedes for second time," November 17, 2018

[recount1-130] 130.0 ^130.1 ^130.2 Orlando Sentinel, "Florida governor's race faces recount as Senate race gets even tighter," November 8, 2018

[131] ABC 4 News, "Recounts ordered in Florida Senate, governor races," November 10, 2018

[rallies-132] 132.0 ^132.1 ^132.2 Politico, "Sunshine State showdown: Obama heads to Florida in between Trump visits," October 29, 2018

[rubio-133] CBS 4, "DeSantis, Rubio Rally Support At Miami Church Outreach Event," November 1, 2018

[134] Politico, "DeSantis steps down from Congress to focus on governor's race," September 10, 2018

[edu2-135] Tallahassee Democrat, "Andrew Gillum, Ron DeSantis spar over mayor's proposed corporate tax hike to fund schools," September 18, 2018

[edu-136] 136.0 ^136.1 Tampa Bay Times, "How are Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum different? Look at their education plans," September 18, 2018

[gillumenvironment-137] Andrew Gillum for Governor, "Environment," accessed October 17, 2018

[138] Politico, "DeSantis pledges Everglades help, oil-drilling opposition in environmental plan," September 12, 2018

[139] Tampa Bay Times, "Here’s Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited plan on health care," October 24, 2018

[140] Ron DeSantis for Governor, "Ron DeSantis: Building a Healthier Florida," accessed October 25, 2018

[141] Florida Politics, "Hermine hangover: Andrew Gillum ‘unfit to lead,’ Republicans charge," October 4, 2018

[142] Florida Politics, "Leon Co. Sheriff defends Andrew Gillum amid hurricane criticism," October 5, 2018

[143] Tampa Bay Times, "Trump praises Ron DeSantis, prods Andrew Gillum at rally in Montana," September 7, 2018

[144] Politico, "Hillary Clinton to campaign for Gillum Oct. 23 in South Florida," September 27, 2018

[gillum54-145] 145.0 ^145.1 ^145.2 Governing, "Raising Stakes of Florida Governor's Race, Power to Replace 3 Supreme Court Justices Will Go to Winner," October 16, 2018

[146] Florida Times-Union, "Rick Scott has already influenced who will be selected for Florida Supreme Court," October 16, 2018

[gillum-147] 147.0 ^147.1 Governing, "Raising Stakes of Florida Governor's Race, Power to Replace 3 Supreme Court Justices Will Go to Winner," October 16, 2018

[148] Andrew Gillum for Governor, "Mayor Andrew Gillum on Florida Supreme Court Decision," October 15, 2018

[149] Tampa Bay Times, "Shakeup: Ron DeSantis hires Susie Wiles to take over floundering campaign," September 26, 2018

[politico-150] 150.0 ^150.1 Politico, "Undercover FBI agent got Gillum ‘Hamilton’ tickets, texts show," October 23, 2018

[cnn-151] 151.0 ^151.1 CNN, "New texts cast doubt on Andrew Gillum's 'Hamilton' ticket explanation," October 23, 2018

[152] Miami Herald, "Gillum’s October surprise: ex-friend’s texts, emails could make or break his campaign," October 24, 2018

[153] Tallahassee Democrat, "'I got you': Texts, emails detail how Adam Corey, FBI arranged trips for Andrew Gillum," October 23, 2018

[154] Politico, "Trump’s Fla. rescue mission — Blue wave? — 'Hamilton'-gate — Rick Scott and black felons — Everglades Trust drama," October 26, 2018

[155] Vox, "How a racist robocall and an FBI inquiry shook up the Florida governor’s race," September 20, 2018

[debate1-156] 156.0 ^156.1 Sun-Sentinel, "Third debate set between Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum," October 9, 2018

[157] The Hill, "Gillum to miss first debate against DeSantis due to storm recovery efforts," October 13, 2018

[quotedisclaimer-158] 158.0 ^158.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[159] Andrew Gillum for Governor, “Issues,” accessed September 12, 2018

[160] Ron DeSantis for Governor, “Issues,” accessed September 12, 2018

[161] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[162] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[163] The number of gubernatorial seats up for election varies, with as many as 36 seats and as few as 12 seats being up in a single even-numbered year.

[LBJ-164] Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.

[165] United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts - Florida," accessed May 9, 2018

[166] Florida Demographics, "Florida Cities by Population," accessed May 9, 2018

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