Trump fears Florida carnage – POLITICO

Elections

The president is making an eleven-hour effort to avoid the significant losses of the governor and the Senate in his home country.

The White House is planning a political rescue mission to Florida, fearing an erasure in a key state next month that could hinder President Donald Trump's hopes of re-election.

Trump should visit the state at least twice, according to two people aware of the plans. Visits by several cabinet members are also likely. Presidential text messages are sent to Floridians who have not yet voted by mail. And discussions are underway on state coverage with automated calls from Trump.

History continues below

On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence and White House advisor Kellyanne Conway supported Ron DeSantis, a governor candidate, and Senate candidate Rick Scott, both close to Trump. Later in the day, the president raised money for Republican House candidate Ross Spano, who faces an unexpected challenge in a reliable red district.

Behind the scenes, Trump's associates have been in daily contact with Florida's top Republicans, and the president's relatives admit that they are worried.

"It's both my hope and hope that the President will be in Florida so much in the election that Floridians hear" Chief's Greetings "in their dreams," said Florida Representative Matt Gaetz , convinced ally of Trump. who has been in contact with the president.

The rise of political activity highlights the stakes of the state. Florida, perhaps more than any other state, is home to a multitude of competitions – with fierce competition for the governor, the Senate and a handful of seats in the House. Recent investigations have shown that DeSantis and Scott were dragging behind their Democratic rivals, triggering Republican alarms.

Aids to DeSantis and Scott insist on being ahead and point out that the numbers of anticipated votes are favorable. But they concede that the races are close. On Tuesday, Blaise Hazelwood, the chief strategist of a super pro-Scott PAC, sent a memo to donors, warning them that the contest was tight and pleading for additional financial support.

"This will most likely be Rick Scott's par excellence," wrote Hazelwood, "a nail biting to the end."

It is the governor's race that most concerns the White House. Governors traditionally play a key role in fundraising, staffing and resource management before presidential elections. The assistants fear that a loss will undermine their efforts to capture the 29 electoral votes of the state in 2020.

A victory for Democrat Andrew Gillum, on the other hand, could support the opponent in Trump's general election. Gillum, an Afro-American mayor of Tallahassee, has excited the Liberals across the state – and he's likely expecting to work to get support from the prospective Democratic candidate.

"Governor Gillum would be a major impediment to Trump's Florida presidential campaign, and a DeSantis governor would be an important asset," said Mac Stipanovich, a long-time Republican lobbyist in the state.

"They think Florida is important, which, I'm sure, said Stipanovich about the administration, they should be very worried."

The optics of losing two highly publicized races in Trump's adopted state also concerns White House collaborators. Trump has relied on DeSantis an extraordinary amount of political capital, intervening in the GOP primary to provide support. A loss of DeSantis would inevitably be perceived as a repudiation of the president, say some Republicans.

As they orchestrate the 11^th-Hour presidential push, top Republicans worry privately about the Florida Republican Party. Formerly at the origin of a powerful voting machine, the State Party had been in decline for a few years, struggling particularly for its fundraising efforts.

The party this year relies heavily on the Trump supported Republican National Committee, which has put in place an aggressive program of recruiting and training staff and volunteers. A committee official said that there were about 100 staff members in Florida, describing it as a "presidential election" effort.

Before the election, the RNC launched an effort to rally voters in the Panhandle, a hurricane-ravaged conservative zone. Party officials fear that a significant number of GOP voters have been displaced by the storm, a depressing turnout.

Trump's involvement is evident in other respects. Last month, DeSantis orchestrated a reshuffle of its campaign and named Susie Wiles, a seasoned lobbyist who led Trump's 2016 campaign in that state, to the presidency. DeSantis recently recruited Mike Shields, a long-time Republican strategist close to Brad Parscale, head of Trump's 2020 campaign.

Trump's pre-election visits to the state are carefully planned to mobilize the Republican base. The president will hold a rally on Oct. 31 in Fort Myers, one of the state's reddest parties and a region where DeSantis expects to win for him.

"Florida is the most important purple state in the country. The president is much more popular than the Democrats realize, "said Brian Ballard, a long-time lobbyist in the state close to the president. "Motivating his constituents will make the difference between winning and losing in Florida."

DeSantis, a 40-year-old former congressman, presents himself as a convinced ally of Trump. During elementary school, he aired TV commercials featuring his young child dressed in a MAGA outfit.

But a fracture appeared last month after DeSantis moved away from Trump's claim that the Democrats had conspired to inflate the death toll of Hurricane Maria. The president, who sees DeSantis as indebted for his main victory, scolded privately the close associates that DeSantis was disloyal.

Tensions have subsided since then, said people close to the two men. The president called DeSantis before a national televised debate Sunday night.

Scott's relationship with the president has been more complex. The Florida governor, who chaired a great pro-Trump PAC in 2016, has long been allied with the president. But Scott kept his distance, sometimes, during his race this year. He attended official government events with the president, but avoided the tumultuous gatherings of Trump, like the one he had organized in Tampa in July.

After being initially neutral, Scott's campaign announced Friday morning that the governor would attend the Trump rally next week.

Marc Caputo contributed to this report.