Miami Herald endorses Gillum for governor

The Miami Herald editorial board on Sunday endorsed Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum for governor over his Republican opponent, former Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).

The newspaper’s editorial board wrote Floridians can only expect “more of the same” if they vote for DeSantis.

{mosads}The two are facing off to replace term-limited Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who is now running for senator. 

“The tenacity, political smarts and commitment to public service that propelled this Tallahassee mayor to victory from the bottom of the pack of better-known candidates in August’s Democratic primary speak volumes,” the board wrote.

The Herald’s endorsement comes after the paper endorsed Democrat Philip Levine over Gillum during the Democratic primary.

In that August article, the paper hit Gillum for the FBI investigation “hovering over” his campaign. 

The FBI is currently investigating alleged public corruption in Tallahassee under Gillum, but he is not the target of the probe, as he frequently notes.

The Herald’s Gillum endorsement on Sunday pointed out that DeSantis continues to attack him over the FBI investigation, though he is not the target of it.

“While DeSantis has not done much to put distance between himself and racist supporters, Gillum has an FBI investigation of Tallahassee City Hall casting a shadow on his campaign,” the Herald wrote. “DeSantis has overreached in calling Gillum corrupt, willfully ignoring that Gillum himself is not a target of the investigation.” 

The endorsement further denounces DeSantis’s attempts to paint Gillum as a “a socialist, an extremist and an anti-Semite.” 

“Gillum is none of these things,” they wrote, noting that he has even sought to distance himself from the label “democratic socialist” after he was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

Gillum and DeSantis are locked in a competitive race for the governorship, with recent polls finding Gillum with a razor-thin lead. 

The Cook Political Report rates the gubernatorial contest a “toss-up.”

If elected, Gillum would be the first black governor of Florida. DeSantis’s campaign has been rocked by allegations of racism, including a remark by the former congressman that Florida voters should not “monkey this up” by backing the African-American Tallahassee mayor.