This article was written by Olivia Lloyd, class of 2019.
The evening of Aug. 28, the results of the Florida primary elections rolled in. School district seats and gubernatorial face-offs proved to be the most contentious. Here are the results:
Ron DeSantis won the Republican party’s gubernatorial nomination. Some attribute his win over competitor Adam Putnam (DeSantis beat Putman roughly 56 to 37 percent) to President Trump’s endorsement of his campaign. Born in Dunedin, Fla., DeSantis attended Yale undergraduate and Harvard Law School before deploying to Iraq with the U.S. Navy. He began serving in the House of Representatives in 2013 and announced his run for Florida governor in January. His support of Trump’s policies garnered him popularity among Republican voters and contributed to his victory over Putnam.
Democrat Andrew Gillum, current Tallahassee mayor, received his party’s gubernatorial nomination. Gwendolyn Graham, the next closest contender for the party’s nomination, came in three percentage points behind Gillum on Tuesday night. Gillum’s staunchly liberal position is less likely to rally left-moderate voters than Graham had aimed to do with her more middle-ground stance. In addition to Gillum’s criticism of Trump, Bernie Sander’s support of his campaign may have rallied the Democratic base enough to propel Gillum to his slim victory over Graham. If Gillum were to be elected, he would be the state’s first black governor, marking a historic event for Florida.
After his two-term limit expired, Governor Rick Scott announced he would attempt to oust Bill Nelson for his Senate seat in the midterm election. Scott easily secured the Republican nomination in the primary, having received almost 89 percent of the vote. Nelson ran on the Democratic ticket unopposed.
Parkland parent Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa died in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, won a seat on the Broward School Board, a spot previously held by Abby Freedman. New school board elections may place pressure on Superintendent Robert Runcie, who has come under fire for his handling of the school shooting.
