Ron DeSantis beats Andrew Gillum to become governor of Florida

Ron DeSantis will be Florida's next governor, extending Republican control of the state's highest power to a sixth consecutive four-year term and proving that a candidacy almost entirely concerning President Donald Trump can win the highest office in the world. a great state.

DeSantis, a little-known Congressman from the suburbs of Jacksonville a year ago, defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum in what has quickly become a nasty battle with racist overtones and accusations of corruption.

Gillum conceded the race at about 11:00 pm, three hours after the polls closed in the state's Panhandle and after almost all votes were counted in South Florida, which is very Democratic.

"I still believe, I still have confidence in the voters," said Gillum, mayor of Tallahassee, in his concession speech. "We may not all have appeared as we had thought and hoped for. But I still believe that we are even more likely to believe in what is common and what is correct and correct. And I believe that in the long run, the good always outweighs the bad. "

Throughout the election campaign, Gillum had a modest but steady advance on the public polls available, but Republicans were confident that their voter turnout operation – built by former governor Jeb Bush and refined during the last decade – would give them the necessary votes.

As it has become typical in Florida's governorates and presidencies in recent years, the final margin should be about 1 percentage point, with DeSantis retaining a margin of less than 100,000 votes out of nearly 8 million votes cast. .

DeSantis won the GOP nomination as Trump's proud sidekick and basically nothing else. Other candidates in both parties have followed the traditional route of attending county fairs, local party dinners and citizen groups to strengthen support throughout the state. DeSantis, however, essentially led his campaign at Fox News Studio near the Capitol, running several times a week to defend Trump on issues ranging from the investigation of Russia to the promised border wall.

These depictions attracted DeSantis to Florida Republican primary voters who regularly watch Fox, but they did little to improve the recognition of the Congressman's name among independent voters and did nothing to refine his position on Florida-specific issues.

It turns out that it did not matter. DeSantis gave little detail on how he would govern Florida, except that he would continue the economic policies of current GOP governor Rick Scott with low taxes and little regulation.

The DeSantis victory extends the drought that is hitting Democrats in search of the highest position in Florida, which began in 1998 when Bush defeated Buddy MacKay, who had been Lieutenant Governor of Lawton Chiles. Chiles was the last Democrat to win the highest office in the state. He defeated Bush in 1994 to win a second term and died a few days before leaving office.