In Florida, DeSantis hopes for Woo Latinos – not just Cubans – in denouncing "socialism"

A survey conducted last week by Quinnipiac University, one of the first public inquiries since August 28, revealed a very competitive race. Mr. Gillum fired 50% of the probable voters, while Mr. DeSantis took 47%. Unusually for a Republican, Mr. DeSantis led Mr. Gillum among Hispanic voters, 56 to 43 percent.

For Mr. Scott, who in two warrants made concerted efforts to communicate with constituencies of every Latin American nationality, the advantage was even more striking: the poll advanced by 20 percentage points to Senator Bill Nelson, the outgoing Democratic president. with Hispanic voters.

Monday's rally, which took place in a cramped room with meager air conditioning while a scrum of protesters was singing outside, was the first since DeSantis had announced his retroactive resignation on Sept. 1 to focus on the governor's race. . In a letter to President Paul D. Ryan, DeSantis cited his likely absences for the remainder of Congress' term as a reason to resign.

"I have to do this job because I was appointed; I think a lot of hope is shown. I want to do things well, and I did not think it was okay to take a paycheck, "said DeSantis, who, as representative of the Sixth District, which includes Daytona Beach, has earned 174,000 dollars a year.

Part of DeSantis' decision was to deprive Mr. Gillum and the Democrats of ammunition of his missing votes. The Republican was absent for the 14 votes in the House last week and would probably have missed dozens of others from here to the election. DeSantis 'advisers said he would now be able to spend all his time campaigning without facing criticism of the waste of taxpayers' money and not representing his constituents.

But after being attacked in the Republican primary to be a Washington representative who mainly communicated with Floridians via cable interviews, DeSantis also said he needed to immerse himself further in his state. It has been much easier to discuss national issues than more common topics that generally dominate governors' races.

This includes support for Latino voters, who represent 16% of Florida's electorate. Last week, DeSantis appointed state representative Jeanette Nuñez, an experienced Cuban-American legislator from Miami, highly regarded in the state capitol, for his position as lieutenant governor. (Mr. Gillum chose Chris King, a wealthy entrepreneur from Orlando who came last in the five-way Democratic primary for the governor.)