What really happened in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election?

Let’s get to the bottom of it. So, on January 5, 2018, Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy, and Andrew Gillum in March 2017. Desantis was the Republican nominee for Florida Governor and Gillum was the Democratic nominee. Gillum won the nomination over the expected winner, former congresswoman Gwen Graham. DeSantis defeated his main opponent, Adam Putnam.

DeSantis’s gubernatorial platform included support for legislation that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry firearms openly. He also supported a law mandating using E-Verify by businesses and a state-level ban on sanctuary city protections for undocumented immigrants. DeSantis promised to stop the spread of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee in the campaign. He expressed support for a state constitutional amendment requiring a super-majority vote for any tax increases, making it harder to pass the tax increase bill. DeSantis opposed allowing able-bodied, childless adults to receive Medicaid. He said he would implement a medical cannabis program while opposing the legalization of recreational cannabis.

The campaign was marked by racial controversy, as DeSantis was accused of using the verb “monkey” as a dog whistle when he said “The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax cuts and bankrupting the state. That is not going to work. That’s not going to be good for Florida. This disastrous gaffe might have crushed his chances of winning the election.

His use of the word “monkey” is kind of racist to say right after you win your party’s gubernatorial primary and defeat the 11th Agricultural Commissioner of Florida under the Rick Scott administration. I have a strong issue with anyone who calls someone anything that sounds racist. But I digress.

The general election was all across the board a toss-up. Some sheriffs endorsed DeSantis some endorsed Gillum. DeSantis was endorsed by the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPA). On September 5th, he announced state Representative Jeanette Nunez as the Republican Party’s Lieutenant Governor nominee. Desantis announced his resignation from his House seat on September 10th to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. The same month, he canceled a planned interview with the Tampa Bay Times (TBT) The day after they canceled the TBT’s interview, Andrew Gillum announced Winter Park businessman Chris King as the Democratic Party’s Lieutenant Governor nominee. On election night, initial results had DeSantis winning, so Gillum conceded. Gillum rescinded his concession when the margin narrowed to 0.4%, and an automatic machine recount began with a November 15th deadline. Although 3 counties missed the deadline, DeSantis was confirmed as the winner and Gillum conceded on November 17th.

Years after this election, DeSantis went on to win his 2022 re-election bid against then-Representative and former Governor Charlie Crist. But Andrew Gillum had trouble coming his way. On June 22, 2022, Gillum was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Northern District of Florida on 21 felony counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy and making false statements for allegedly diverting money raised during the campaign to a company controlled by Sharron Letterman-Hicks.