Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gillum tells supporters to round up voters
Andrew Gillum sought to fire up two key Democratic constituencies — black voters and union teachers — as he zipped through Broward and Miami-Dade counties Monday.
“Listen everybody. Thank you so much for the support. With your help, we’re going to bring home this win. Don’t forget, we’ve got to vote. Election Day is a myth. Election Day is today and every day until November 6th. Get out there and vote like your lives depend on it. Because your lives do depend on who the next governor is,” Gillum said.
That was his message in a brief interview with CaribbeanAmerican radio stations WZOPFM 92.7 in Fort Lauderdale and WZPP-FM 96.1 in Miami, which were broadcasting from Gillum’s rally at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Cen-
ter in Fort Lauderdale.
At the African-American library in the middle of the afternoon and later at the Broward Teachers Union headquarters in Tamarac, Gillum was largely preaching to the choir. The people attracted to those events almost certainly have their minds made up, said former Florida Senate Democratic Leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale.
Gillum sought to channel his audiences’ excitement into action. It doesn’t do any good, he said, for people to sit at home and think about the election or to share their passions on Twitter. Get out and vote — and get others to do the same, he implored.
If elected, Gillum said he’d pursue expansion of the Medicaid health program. He said Florida would have a governor who "believes in science” and would work to improve the environment. And he said he’d be a governor who believes in “second chances,” which means restoration of rights for felons who have served their sentences.
He said he would push gun controls, including more robust background checks, keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and banning assault weapons.
And he pledged to go after the National Rifle Association. “They cannot run roughshod over us any more. That enough is enough. And we’re going to pursue common sense gun reforms.”
The crowd at the teachers union booed when Gillum mentioned President Donald
Trump.
“This man has a responsibility to stand up and to speak out against hatred and division. And instead every single day he gets on Twitter and goes to rallies and he stokes fear. His only goal is to make us afraid of each other so that we don’t trust one another so that we don’t respect each other’s humanity anymore,” Gillum said.
Earlier Monday, Trump wrote on Twitter that Gillum “is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!” In his Twitter response, Gillum said Trump “is howling because he's weak,” and urged his supporters to vote.
Gillum said Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis, who is strongly supported by Trump, “is proving that he is uniquely unqualified for the office of governor.”
Still, Gillum said about DeSantis supporters, “I plan to be their governor too.”
A heckler with a megaphone disrupted the Gillum event in Fort Lauderdale that featured former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. For people near the back of the crowd, the heckler drowned out almost everything Holder told the audience and much of what Gillum said. As Gillum started talking about believing in civility and that “we have more in common than divides us,” the megaphone-holder cranked up his volume.
Several Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies kept an eye on the provocateur, but one deputy told Gillum supporters that the man was in a public space and was within his rights.
At another point, a man with signs supporting gun rights — including “God bless the NRA!” — was at the center of a minor scuffle near the front of the gathering near the stage.
“The other side in their rhetoric, they’re going to continue to be loud and distracting and negative. But, honestly, listen, if Donald Trump were the man you elected president, you’d probably be pretty depressed too,” Gillum told one audience.
Earlier Monday, Gillum and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., participated in an early voting event at MiamiDade College’s north campus in Miami.
Verna Johnson, a Democratic activist from Lauderhill, said she is convinced Gillum will win.
“We’re going to whup butt. You think we’re out here sweating blood, sweat and tears for nothing?” she said. “We’re going to whup butt.”