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Tom Steyer, the billionaire investor and Democratic activist, has directed his political operation to spend more than $ 5 million to support Andrew Gillum's campaign for the Florida governor, a huge investment to test whether any Democratic voters can overthrow the power by the Republicans.
The campaign between Mr. Gillum, who is the progressive mayor of Tallahassee, and representative Ron DeSantis, a Conservative legislator who aligns closely with the White House, has become one of the clearest contests of the country between the wing. liberal Democratic Party. and the Republican party as President Trump reorganized it.
Mr. Steyer, who is based in California and has been prosecuted since last year for indictment of Mr. Trump, said in an interview that he would spend more in Florida this fall than any other state. He supported Gillum, 39, in the Democratic primary, and hailed him as a role model for the National Democratic Party. During the interview, Mr. Steyer congratulated Mr. Gillum for approving the impeachment, although he stated that his support was not a "litmus test".
"He's a fierce gun controller, he's been a climate champion," Steyer said of Mr. Gillum, adding, "He called for the indictment of the president." He was ready to speak frankly to the voters of Florida and they responded.
Mr. Steyer, 61, said his spending in the state would be heavily geared towards mobilizing youth and minorities to vote, rather than wooing undecided voters in the political center, which he says he has put in place. doubt existence.
"I do not even accept this idea, if you'll excuse me, center voters," said Steyer.
Mr. Gillum has dominated Mr. DeSantis in public polls since Florida primary school last month, and Mr. DeSantis has struggled to overcome a series of racial controversies about him. his political supporters. The day after the August 28th primary, DeSantis warned Fox News that the Floridians should not "ring out" by electing a Liberal like Mr. Gillum, in what many saw as a racist insult to a candidate governor. He described it as an inept turn.
But Florida has not elected a Democratic Governor this century, and Trump remains more popular there than in the country as a whole. And Mr DeSantis has benefited from a powerful injection of funds by national republican committees. Among them, the Association of Republican Governors pledged to spend $ 20 million for Mr. DeSantis and has already broadcast ads calling Mr. Gillum "too radical" for Florida and linking it to a federal investigation of influence. trade in Tallahassee. Mr. Gillum stated that he was not the subject of any investigation.
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Jon Thompson, a spokesperson for the Association of Republican Governors, said Gillum's alliance with Mr. Steyer was further evidence of Mr. Gillum's tough policy.
"By embracing California billionaire Tom Steyer and his unpopular obsession with impeachment, Andrew Gillum once again demonstrates to Florida voters that his radical campaign is too extreme and out of step," Thompson said.
Steyer's advisers said he would spend about $ 5.2 million on the governor's race, about half of it for digital advertising. Most of the remaining $ 2 million would go towards the electoral participation efforts of two organizations supported by Steyer, For Our Future and NextGen America.
Mr. Steyer and Mr. Gillum are scheduled to appear together at a Florida campaign event this weekend.
Steyer's prolonged incursion into Florida politics will test his personal strategy for the return of the Democratic Party, as well as the reach of the millennial-powered left wing. Mr. Steyer and his associates stated that they had envisioned the path of Mr. Gillum's victory in the Democratic primary, despite his because of its particular appeal to young people and African-American voters. Steyer spent about $ 1.4 million to increase turnout in the primary election, including campaign mail and digital advertising that his advisers found to be effective.
Gillum won 34 percent of the vote in primary school, three points higher than former congressman Gwen Graham.
Mr. Steyer has made his personal fortune as a hedge fund manager and in the last decade has become one of the Democratic Party's greatest benefactors. He has considered running in California and has not ruled out a presidential campaign in 2020. The Florida race is also an opportunity to forge an alliance with a man who, if he wins the job of governor, will instantly become one of the most important. leaders of the Democratic Party.
The F.B.I. For several years, the city government of Tallahassee has been examining the alleged corruption and Mr. Gillum stated that he had been told that he was not a target of this investigation. Steyer said he had never questioned Gillum about the federal inquiry, but said his advisors had conducted research during the primary campaign and found nothing disturbing.
"If it works in 2018 for Andrew Gillum, it will work in 18 for Senator Nelson," Steyer said of his participation strategy and the outgoing Democratic senator for the state. "It will work in the legislature and up and down the poll."
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