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Florida Governor’s Race Gets Bigger as Ron DeSantis Joins the Field.

Rep. Ron DeSantis is a little-known entity in Florida political circles, but that’s not where he expects to derive much of his financial support in his gubernatorial campaign. | Steve Cannon/AP

The War for 2018 – Who will replace Rick Scott as the governor?

According to our friends at Sunshine State News, the 2018 Florida governor’s face added yet another big name. Congressman Ron DeSantis a Republican from Jacksonville made the announcement that he plans to run take a shot at running the state of Florida.

Both the Republican’s and the Democrats will likely see more people enter the ever-growing field of those running for Florida’s top job.

Most political analysts myself did not see this coming, however, DeSantis got a big-time endorsement even before he entered the 2018 race. He was given a strong boost when President Donald Trump tweeted his support for DeSantis before a number of the Florida Republican Party even knew that the Congressman’s gubernatorial aspirations.

In a press release he made the following statement “As you remember, a few weeks ago the president tweeted support for me as a candidate for governor of Florida,” DeSantis said. “So, today we are going to begin filing paperwork to begin that effort.”

He joins a very strong field with Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam of Bartow, State Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater and Pasco County’s own Richard Corcoran who is presently the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives

Meanwhile, it did not take long for those on the Democratic side to jump on the DeSantis announcement. The group was led by one of the Dems who many think has a good chance to be her party’s nominee.

“Ron DeSantis running as Trump’s hand-picked candidate with the backing of out-of-state billionaires may endear him to the most partisan primary voters, but he is too extreme for Florida,” said former U.S. Rep. and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gwen Graham. “While DeSantis has dedicated his time in Congress to protecting Trump from Mueller and becoming a Fox News star, we look forward to a vigorous debate on the real issues that affect Florida families most.”

The GOP has had a stranglehold on the top spot in the state Florida for over three decades going back to Buddy MacKay, the last Democrat to hold the office.

They have one of their deepest fields’s in years with Graham, joined by Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Winter Park businessman Chris King and Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine.

But while the Democrats hope to ride the “Blue Wave,” all the way to the Governor’s Mansion. The state GOP is very confident that they can hold on the office, painting the narrative that Democrats have a lackluster, uninspired choice of candidates who cannot raise the money it will take to win.

Get ready we are just starting the mad dash to a big-time 2018 political showdown in the state.

 

James Williams: Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.
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