What to Know
- In the latest Quinnipiac University poll released last week, Gillum held a six point lead in the race.
With just five days to go until the state of Florida elects the state’s next governor, the two major party candidates battling for the job were in South Florida on Thursday campaigning for votes.
Republican candidate and former Rep. Ron DeSantis – fresh off a stop in Fort Myers on Wednesday at an event headlined by President Donald Trump – was joined by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio at an event inside the Alpha and Omega Church on SW 78th Avenue and Miller Drive and later at Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana.
Energetic supporters of DeSantis chanted outside Versailles, to welcome the Republican candidate for governor to the Miami landmark.
A recent poll shows he is surging with Cuban-American voters and trying to court other Latin communities as well.
"We've been campaigning in Orlando with the sitting congresswoman from Puerto Rico, Jen Gonzalez Colone, she's endorsed me, we've worked closely on Puerto Rican issues," DeSantis said amid his campaign stops. "I think that'll give us a bump, but at the end of the day, I think we're doing well across the board, all things considered with Hispanic voters."
DeSantis’ running mate in the hotly contested race, Miami native and State Rep. Jeanette Nunez attended an event with U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in Key Largo.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum will took his bus tour across the area on Thursday, and began the day with a stop in Key West before moving north to six cities in Miami-Dade County that include Homestead, the Richmond Heights area where Gillum was born and raised as well as Kendall and Miami Gardens.
"I'll tell you even in conservative areas of this state, they do not want a governor who will allow insurance companies to discriminate against pre-existing conditions, there's real energy even in these places around Medicaid expansion," Gillum said of healthcare.
Gillum, along with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson – who is in his own tight contest against current Gov. Rick Scott – will be at an event headlined by former President Barack Obama on Friday in Miami. Obama’s visit will be the latest by a national name to the Sunshine State as Trump will return to the state this weekend for another campaign event.
"The reason we're going to win this race is being willing to go out and engage voters even in areas that are not typically receptive to Democrats," Gillum said.
In the latest Quinnipiac University poll released last week, Gillum held a six-point lead in the race as he seeks to become the first black governor in the state’s history. A poll conducted for Telemundo Florida Stations shows both Gillum and Nelson holding double-digit leads among Hispanic voters.
