TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - On the Republican side, Ron DeSantis, quickly grabbed the GOP nomination for Governor Tuesday night.
DeSantis, who received the support of President Trump, defeated a number of challengers for the nomination, including Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
"I was able to talk to the President, I want to thank him for his support," said Desantis. "I want to thank him for entrusting me, viewing me as somebody who could be a great leader for Florida. So thank you, Mr. President."
DeSantis got just over 56 percent of the vote Tuesday night.
President Trump took to Twitter Wednesday morning to voice his opinions on the race, calling Gillum, "a failed Socialist Mayor who has allowed crime and many other problems to flourish in his city. "
But DeSantis is facing criticism of his own, for his comments he made to Fox news about Gillum.
DeSantis criticized the way Gillum governed Tallahassee, and said that the, "last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state."
"Everybody knows what it means. People are not stupid," said Allison Tant, former Chair of the Florida Democratic Party. "You can try to come up with every kind of window dressing from here to Sunday, but I get it, I know that my daughter and son get it, and I sure as heck know that black people get it. We know what he's talking about."
We reached out to Gillum's camp for comment and are waiting to hear back.
