--- title: Ron DeSantis Won Florida Governor's Race by Tying to Trump description: Republican Ron DeSantis won Florida governor's election in part by turning the race into a referendum on Donald Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/ author: Abby Vesoulis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-07T04:36:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:07.144Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ron DeSantis Won Florida Governor's Race by Tying Himself to Trump og:description: An unusual governor's race. og:url: https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07347ddbc0a99021/69893c54fb4eacdbfb897e32/ron-desantis-campaign-hurricane-michael.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3040 og:image:height: 1710 og:image:alt: Ron DeSantis Governor Campaign Hurricane Michael og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ron DeSantis Won Florida Governor's Race by Tying Himself to Trump twitter:description: An unusual governor's race. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07347ddbc0a99021/69893c54fb4eacdbfb897e32/ron-desantis-campaign-hurricane-michael.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ron DeSantis Won Florida Governor's Race by Tying Himself to Trump > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Andrew Gillum Addresses Supporters in a Concession Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Andrew Gillum Addresses Supporters in a Concession Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QmvffXaJ.m3u8) (0:26)  _Published 2018-11-07. Andrew Gillum Addresses Supporters in a Concession Speech_  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Nov 7, 2018 4:36 AM UTC  Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis combined a campaign stop for supporters with a collection drive for water and canned goods for those in need at a shopping center in Jacksonville, Fla. on Oct. 10, 2018. Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis combined a campaign stop for supporters with a collection drive for water and canned goods for those in need at a shopping center in Jacksonville, Fla. on Oct. 10, 2018. Bob Self—The Florida Times-Union/AP  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Nov 7, 2018 4:36 AM UTC Republican Ron DeSantis won Florida governor’s election in part by turning the race into a referendum on Donald Trump. After [a primary ad in which he built a wall and read “The Art of the Deal” with his kids](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/07/31/ron-desantis-campaign-ad-florida-candidate-orig-mss.cnn), DeSantis was helped by the president’s involvement in the race, even as his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum took hard lines against Trump’s actions at the national level. With 99% of the votes accounted for, DeSantis was ahead of Gillum by more than 75,000, [NBC](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2018-election/midterms/fl) reported late Tuesday night. For his part, Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, presented a platform that was in stark contrast to the President’s on national policies that governors have little control over. He advocated for “Medicare for All” before [admitting](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andrew-gillum-says-florida-cant-do-single-payer-alone/) that Florida likely couldn’t accomplish a single-payer system on its own, called for the [abolishment](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-gillum-abolish-ice-20180705-story.html) of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency, in its current form, and was vocal about the importance of DACA, a federal immigration policy. DeSantis might not have even made it to the general election without Trump’s very early endorsement. Adam Putman, DeSantis’ opponent in the Republican primary, was arguably better-known and objectively [better-funded.](https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/08/28/as-adam-putnams-rising-star-fades-his-supporters-blame-one-person-trump/) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/944276471614509057) Doug Ahler, a political science professor at Florida State University, said that Trump was a factor in the race. “Florida’s governor’s race is a referendum on President Trump, perhaps more than any other major race this election cycle,” he said. Trump won the state by a slim margin — 1.2% of the popular vote — in [2016.](https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/florida) Since then, his favorability rating hasn’t fared well. Only 39% of the state’s voters said they approved of the President, according to [poll results](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-trump-approval-florida-fau-poll-september-20180918-story.html) released in late September by Florida Atlantic University. The same report indicated Trump was losing his grip on independent voters, too. Only 35% approved versus 39% that disapproved, which is why many were surprised by DeSantis’ victory. Gillum had based his campaign around progressive issues. For Floridians, he supported [expanded](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-gov-race-health-care-20180914-story.html) Medicaid coverage, an [increased](http://floridapolitics.com/archives/247782-andrew-gillum-proposes-50k-starting-salaries-teachers) starting salary for teachers and and [more stringent](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-governor-race-desantis-gillum-issues-20180831-story.html) gun control measures, such as bans on assault weapons and limits on the size of magazines. Meanwhile, DeSantis, who resigned from his congressional seat after winning the Republican primary, presented himself as an extension of Trump’s conservatism. He advocated for stricter immigration laws, [repealing](https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/10/24/heres-ron-desantis-long-awaited-plan-on-health-care/) former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and has said that he [would have vetoed](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-florida-school-shooting-ron-desantis-second-amendment-20180410-story.html) the legislation that provided stricter gun control measures after 17 people were killed during a shooting rampage at [Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.](http://time.com/parkland-high-school-shooting-vigil/) Hans Hasell, another political science professor at Florida State University, said DeSantis’ campaign strategy was likely more concerned with trying to get conservative voters to turn up at the polls than it was with trying to get liberal voters to change their minds. “If you look at campaigns in the past couple of decades, they have become much more about turning out your base rather than persuading voters,” he told TIME. Fortunately for DeSantis, that strategy paid off. As Trump tried to help DeSantis, Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden held rallies to aide Gillum and Sen. Bill Nelson, a three-time incumbent Democrat from Florida seeking his fourth Senate term against current Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is term-limited in the Florida governor’s mansion. Gillum wasn’t immune to scandals. He was [accused](https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/10/23/text-message-undercover-fbi-agent-got-gillum-hamilton-tickets-660231) of accepting tickets to the Broadway hit, “Hamilton” from a group that included an undercover FBI agent during a 2016 trip he took to New York City as mayor. Gillum’s campaign asserted that Gillum believed the tickets were reserved for him, but that he thought his brother paid for them. Meanwhile, DeSantis’ campaign was plagued by actions some perceived as racist. He received criticism for [speaking at a conference](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/gop-candidate-for-fla-governor-spoke-at-racially-charged-events/2018/09/09/c6d3a63c-b114-11e8-a810-4d6b627c3d5d%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.79ad44233f1e) hosted by a white nationalist, [chose not to return money](https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/09/21/desantis-wont-return-money-from-donor-who-called-obama-the-n-word/) from a donor who used a racial slur against Obama and was [reportedly](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/don-cheadle-ads-call-out-ron-desantis-racism%5Fus%5F5be08ae3e4b01ffb1d04eecf) a moderator for a Facebook page full of racially insensitive memes. During a Fox News appearance the day after the primaries, DeSantis [said](https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/desantis-says-florida-voters-would-monkey-this-up-if-they-elect-gillum-as-governor/2018/08/29/e4cbc5c6-ab96-11e8-8a0c-70b618c98d3c%5Fstory.html) “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,” in reference to his new opponent, a 39-year-old black man. A spokesman for his campaign asserted the monkey comment had nothing to do with skin color, but it’s not clear Gillum bought the excuse. “I’m not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist,” Gillum said during their last debate. “I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist.” Footage of the exchange went viral across the nation, let alone in Florida. Comments from other Republicans likely hurt him too. At a recent DeSantis rally, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue [said](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/04/politics/sonny-perdue-cotton-pickin-florida-governor-andrew-gillum-ron-desantis/index.html) the race was “cotton-pickin’ important.” Meanwhile, Trump likened Gillum, who graduated from a historically black university and grew up in a working class household, to a thief in a tweet about a week before the election. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1056922209111994373) Though it turns out, these events didn’t hurt DeSantis enough to sway things in Gillum’s favor. It’s clear that Floridians didn’t completely ditch their conservatism in the midterms, but whether the state maintains that position until 2020 is less so. It’s “kind of like trying to figure out who’s going to win the NBA Finals in 2020 based on stats from last season. And that might be easier,” Ahler joked. “The Warriors are more predictable than the President.” ## Transcript We could not be more thankful for the support that was shown by each and every one of you all the way along this path. We recognize that we didn't win it tonight, we didn't win this transaction. But I want you all to know that is just it, a transaction, that what we believe in still holds true today. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/"},"headline":"Ron DeSantis Won Florida Governor's Race by Tying Himself to Trump","datePublished":"2018-11-07T04:36:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:07.144Z","description":"Republican Ron DeSantis won Florida governor's election in part by turning the race into a referendum on Donald Trump.","url":"https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/","keywords":["2018 Elections","Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07347ddbc0a99021/69893c54fb4eacdbfb897e32/ron-desantis-campaign-hurricane-michael.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abby Vesoulis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07347ddbc0a99021/69893c54fb4eacdbfb897e32/ron-desantis-campaign-hurricane-michael.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ron DeSantis Governor Campaign Hurricane Michael","caption":"Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis combined a campaign stop for supporters with a collection drive for water and canned goods for those in need at a shopping center in Jacksonville, Fla. on Oct. 10, 2018.","creditText":"Bob Self—The Florida Times-Union/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-elections/","name":"2018 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/","name":"Ron DeSantis Won Florida Governor's Race by Tying Himself to Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Andrew Gillum Addresses Supporters in a Concession Speech","description":"Andrew Gillum Addresses Supporters in a Concession Speech","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QmvffXaJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-11-07T04:28:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QmvffXaJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/","duration":"PT26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5445200/ron-desantis-florida-governors-election-results/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```