Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 10-5-18

Race For Governor
Barack Obama Endorses Andrew Gillum For Governor, Other Florida Candidates
Former President Barack Obama weighed in the midterm elections on Monday with the latest round of Democrats he supports.
Among his Florida picks are the two top statewide Democratic candidates: An- drew Gillum for governor and Bill Nelson, who is seek- ing re-election to the U. S. Senate.
“Andrew is a proven fighter with the courage and determination to stand up for Florida families,” Obama said in a statement released by the Gillum campaign. “An- drew will fight to put the pri- orities of everyday people first.”
The announcement from Obama’s office didn’t detail specific reasons for his 20 Florida picks. It’s a list of 260 endorsements in 29 states ac- companied by a general state- ment of support.
“The Democratic Party has always made the biggest dif-
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
ference in the lives of the American people when we lead with conviction, princi- ple, and bold, new ideas. Our incredible array of candidates up and down the ticket, all across the country, make up a movement of citizens who are younger, more diverse, more female than ever before,” Obama said in a statement released by his office.
It’s unclear how much im- pact Obama’s endorsements of Democrats will have. While he was president, his party
suffered massive losses across the country in congressional races, governor’s races and state legislative races.
Gillum, in a statement, said it was “truly an honor” to receive Obama’s endorse- ment. “He exemplifies true patriotism and characterizes the American values that both the country and Florida are striving to recapture.”
Taryn Fenske, Florida communications director for the Republican National Com- mittee, said by email that the former president’s endorse- ment couldn’t gloss over Gillum’s “failing” campaign. “It is no surprise that Barack
Obama is endorsing and try- ing to rescue Andrew Gillum’s campaign for gover- nor,” Fenske said.
Obama also recom- mended Emma Collum, who is running for the only Broward County seat in the state Legislature currently held by a Republican.
In an email to supporters, Collum called Obama’s en- dorsement “absolutely huge” for her campaign against Re- publican Chip LaMarca. In- cumbent state Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, can’t run for re-election be- cause of term limits.
Obama’s Florida picks in- clude U. S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, who is seeking a second term representing Or- ange and Seminole counties. He also endorsed four candi- dates for the House of Repre- sentatives.
In South Florida, they in- clude Lauren Baer, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican who rep- resents northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, and Debbie Mucarsel- Powell, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who represents Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Progressive Billionaires Fall For Florida’s Gillum
His backers hope the Democratic gubernatorial candidate could excite the Obama coalition of minority and progressive voters ahead of the 2020 presidential race.
Andrew Gillum, the 39- year-old candidate for Florida governor, had a promising primary campaign with a seri- ous shortcoming: he was the only one of five Democratic candidates who didn’t have ei- ther a family legacy in politics or millions of dollars of his own to fund his race.
But Gillum’s financial fortunes changed sharply after he sat down in early May with the preeminent angel funder of the progressive movement, billionaire George Soros, in California’s Berkeley Hills.
At the Claremont Club & Spa, according to multiple people familiar with the meet- ing, Gillum and Soros had a sprawling after-dinner con- versation about Gillum’s plans to turn out progressive and non-white voters and then, if he won, to expand Medicaid, recognize the threat of man-made climate change and enact gun control legisla- tion after the Marjory Stone- man Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida.
Plus, he said, he could help Democrats in 2020 in a state
that’s considered a must-win for Republicans.
“Florida is the holy grail,” Gillum told Soros, accord- ing to one of the people famil- iar with the meeting.
Young, charismatic and describing himself as “un- apologetically progressive” — with the potential to become Florida’s first African-Ameri- can governor and one of only a few black governors ever — Gillum represents to left- leaning donors everything that the White House doesn’t, making him a pitch-perfect candidate for 2018 in the eyes of the uber-wealthy left, start- ing with Soros, donors and strategists told reporters.
His backers hope that Gillum could excite minority and progressive voters who turn out at lower rates than the state’s older, whiter and traditionally Republican-lean- ing electorate. That could help Democratic Sen. Bill Nel- son fend off a challenge to his seat in November and get De- mocrats excited for 2020, his billionaire backers believe.
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