Attacks mar race for governor

Can Florida parties repair damage?

Karen Ota-O’Brien, of Coconut Creek, started the Lucky Pucks in 2007 with three women.

With Florida voters finally about to decide party nominees on Tuesday, both Republicans and Democrats could find themselves damaged by the fighting and attacks that have marked the race for governor.

“This is the first time in decades we’ve had such fractious primaries on both sides of the aisle,” said Susan MacManus, a retired political science professor at the University of South Florida. “The big question for the parties will be who’s best at putting Humpty Dumpty together again. Because there’s going to be some very bitter feelings among the candidates themselves.”

On the GOP side, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis haven’t let up on each other after weeks of bickering. Most polls suggest DeSantis, an outsider running largely on his endorsement by President Donald Trump, is leading over Putnam, a close ally of many state Republicans.

“There have been very contentious, competitive primaries in the past, but it’s not prevented Republicans from winning general elections,” said Mac Stipanovich, a veteran Republican activist and lobbyist in Tallahassee. “But this one’s different in the way it happened. Trump just endorses DeSantis, and a significant portion of the Republican Party electorate falls in line like lemmings heading for the cliff.”

Stipanovich said Putnam

“was treated very badly. He did nothing but work hard, work hard, work hard, support Trump, extol Trump, and then he got kicked in the teeth by Trump. There’s a fairly widespread sense of betrayal … and we’re going to see how that sort of thing affects the ultimate outcome.”

At the same time, attacks on former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham by fellow Democrats, especially Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, could damage her going forward, especially if progressives backing Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum or Winter Park businessman Chris King find themselves on the losing side again, like when Bernie Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic race for president.

“I can’t speak for all progressives, but I can tell you on a personal level, as a [Bernie Sanders supporter] myself in 2016, it was very hard for some Sanders supporters when he conceded and endorsed Hillary Clinton,” said Ricardo Williams, founder of the Orlando Our Revolution group. “But quite a few of us followed his lead and went on to support her. But a lot of folks did not, and I understand why.”

Williams said if his preferred candidate, Gillum, loses on Tuesday, he would keep an open mind and look at “the next best option.” But he drew the line with one candidate.

“I can tell you I don’t like Jeff Greene as the Democratic nominee,” Williams said.

Greene has been hitting Graham hard on her vote in favor of the Keystone Pipeline while in Congress, saying in one mailer that “Gwen Graham tricked Democrats once already, we can’t afford to be tricked again.” But he has also released negative ads about former Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine.

And he paid for a misleading flyer implying that nine African American candidates from a predominantly black town in South Florida had endorsed him, aiming at Gillum’s African American support.

With Graham leading most of the latest polls, Orlando Democratic political consultant Dick Batchelor said he thinks she can bridge the gap with progressives like Williams.

“I think she can reach out,” Batchelor said. “It hasn’t been as bitter on the Democratic side as it has been on the Republican side. Putnam is attacking the Koch brothers for supporting DeSantis, and then you’ve got DeSantis attacking Putnam for taking sugar money, the other sugar daddies of the Republican Party.”

MacManus said the question of whether the governor’s race or the U.S. Senate race is the driving factor going into November also will make a difference.

DeSantis could provide a clearer distinction between parties on the governor side than in the Senate race, where Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson – both unopposed in their primaries – have been targeting moderate voters for months.

“If it’s going to be all about Trump, it makes it easy for the Democratic Party to unite,” she said. “But the loss of Gillum raises issues of black turnout, and is Nelson enough to drive minorities to the polls?”