Florida Governor's Debate: What to Watch When Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis Face off



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MIAMI – Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum will perform on stage in Tampa on Sunday night for the first Florida Governor's bid debate, a 60-minute exchange that will be broadcast live at 8:00 pm. on CNN.

The debate comes at a crucial moment in the campaign: 16 days after the November 6 elections and the night before the opening of advance polling sites opening in some of the largest counties in the state. Most polls suggest that the race is indeed linked, as is typical in Florida, the country's largest presidential state.

Mr. Gillum, a Democrat, and Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, were supposed to face last Tuesday in a debate that was canceled because of Hurricane Michael. The Category 4 storm campaign paralyzed campaign efforts in the Florida Panhandle and kept Tallahassee Mayor Gillum off the trail for 10 days as his city geared up to recover from the storm. tropical cyclone. A second debate is scheduled for Wednesday.

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Hurricane politics should show up but not dominate in Sunday's debate. During the storm, rivals quarreled over whether it was appropriate that Mr. DeSantis, a former congressman who resigned after winning the August primary, continues to air TV commercials attacking Mr. Gillum for his reason. management of a previous storm, Hermine Hurricane, which cut off the flow of thousands of residents of Tallahassee in 2016. Even more of them were left in the dark after Michael, but the city seemed to restore electricity faster this time – a timeline, Mr. Gillum will almost certainly highlight if asked about the storm.

The fight between Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Gillum, who both won their primaries as shameless supporters, is seen as an indirect indicator of the ideological battle waged within their parties at the national level, as Republicans seek to know how far to align with the president. Trump and the Democrats are wondering how they can succeed with a more progressive message. Mr. DeSantis, one of the faithful devotees of the President, had a cry Mr. Trump on Twitter Saturday; Mr Gillum, who campaigned at the primary with the 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, plans to hold two rallies on Monday with former vice president Joe Biden.

Mr. Gillum, 39, exudes charisma and delivers inspiring speeches, and Mr. DeSantis, 40, a former Navy Attorney, who appears frequently on Fox News, has revealed himself as a confident and effective debater in the primary. Mr. Gillum recounted his life story as the fifth of seven children of a loving working class family. Mr. DeSantis highlighted his excellent summary: Yale, Harvard, Iraq.

DeSantis and Gillum consider that Sunday's debate is an opportunity for candidates to show their tough party to a national audience.

In an overview of his likely debates on the discussions with Mr. Gillum, Mr. DeSantis said during the weekend campaign events that his opponent was bad for the economy, that he was promoting crime and that he was raising taxes. Mr. DeSantis also condemned Mr. Gillum as untrustworthy, emphasizing continue F.B.I. investigation into possible corruption at Tallahassee City Hall. Mr. Gillum said that agents told him last year that he was not the target of the investigation.

"Andrew Gillum's record at Tallahassee City Hall is a disaster," DeSantis said Saturday in Orlando. (In one of his tweets shortly thereafter, Trump called the state capital "one of the most corrupt and corrupt cities in the United States!" "Donald Trump is back on the job," said Mr. Gillum. in a Twitter video.)

Mr Gillum, who described Mr DeSantis as a mini-asset without a comprehensive political vision for the state, told his supporters, after returning to the campaign, that he was ready for a series of meetings. # 39; debate attacks. The governor's race was mingled with ugly racial politics from the day after elementary school, when Democrats accused DeSantis of using a racist whistle when he said Gillum's agenda would be a "race". monkey "for Florida. Mr. DeSantis' campaign struggled to regain his equilibrium some time later.

"He's going to call me socialist. He will call me corrupt. He will launch his hidden versions of racial epithets. He's going to call me anti-Israeli, "Gillum said Friday, offering debate predictions to supporters in St. Petersburg. "I'm going to do everything I can to keep this conversation going at a high level. I will do everything in my power to hold a debate worthy of the people of Florida. But if I have to go, I'll go. "

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