Fueled by Trump, Ron DeSantis easily beats Adam Putnam in GOP race for Florida governor
Putnam, long the presumed favorite, spent an eye-popping $37 million in the primary, more than twice what DeSantis did.
More than 1.5 million Republicans turned out for Tuesday's Florida primary, but just one person clinched the GOP gubernatorial nomination for U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis over Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
The moment President Donald Trump tweeted in late June that DeSantis "will be a Great Governor & has my full Endorsement!" the northeast Florida congressman overtook Putnam, long viewed as among the brightest lights in the Florida GOP.
"Thank you, Mr. President," DeSantis, 39, said Tuesday night in Orlando, with unofficial results showing him with 56 percent of the vote to Putnam's nearly 37 percent.
The result was remarkable, both as a testament to the influence and popularity of Trump among Florida Republicans and for the deflation of a longtime Republican star widely presumed headed for the Governor's Mansion since his days in Bartow High School.
Both parties nominated the ideal candidates for their respective bases, a tea party Republican and die-hard Trump fan versus an unabashed liberal from the Bernie Sanders wing of his party.
DeSantis eschewed traditional grass roots campaigning and even talking much about Florida issues and overwhelmingly won the nomination with a simple message: I am a veteran, a conservative, and Donald Trump's candidate. And unlike Putnam, I am not a career politician or someone who ever veered from the hardest line on illegal immigration.
He spent half as much money as Putnam, and still won by a crushing margin.
"I don't believe any other candidate in the country had to run against a tougher opponent in the primary to Adam Putnam," said DeSantis, who also welcomed the news of Andrew Gillum's nomination.
"He is way, way too liberal for the state of Florida," DeSantis said.
Putnam, 44, was the perfect candidate for Florida governor — if it were 1998.
Decades of courting Republican activists across the state and serving as a Florida legislator, congressman and member of the state Cabinet did not prepare him for the populist wave that elected Trump and took over his life-long party.
The wealthy son of a prominent agriculture family, Putnam raised nearly $39 million and had the support of most of the political establishment in Florida. It wasn't enough, not nearly. He wound up mirroring 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush — just another past-his-expiration politician — at a time when voters are fed up with politics as usual.
"We ran an honest to goodness, genuine, grassroots campaign, and I'm really proud of that," Putnam told supporters at the Terrace Hotel in downtown Lakeland.
Putnam made no mention of Trump, but as he finished, a man shouted "Trump! Trump! Trump!" near the exit. Angered, Putnam supporters tried to force him to leave.
After his remarks, his closest aides and large, extended family hugged and cried in the crowded hotel foyer. Putnam has been in politics since he was elected to the Florida House at age 22. Now, his career in politics could be finished.
Keith Rupp, a former aide to Putnam in Congress, said he is leaving the party.
"I've been a lifelong Republican and I've worked for three different members of Congress," he said. "I can't believe the party has turned into a cult of personalities."
https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buz...-governor/
Putnam, long the presumed favorite, spent an eye-popping $37 million in the primary, more than twice what DeSantis did.
More than 1.5 million Republicans turned out for Tuesday's Florida primary, but just one person clinched the GOP gubernatorial nomination for U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis over Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
The moment President Donald Trump tweeted in late June that DeSantis "will be a Great Governor & has my full Endorsement!" the northeast Florida congressman overtook Putnam, long viewed as among the brightest lights in the Florida GOP.
"Thank you, Mr. President," DeSantis, 39, said Tuesday night in Orlando, with unofficial results showing him with 56 percent of the vote to Putnam's nearly 37 percent.
The result was remarkable, both as a testament to the influence and popularity of Trump among Florida Republicans and for the deflation of a longtime Republican star widely presumed headed for the Governor's Mansion since his days in Bartow High School.
Both parties nominated the ideal candidates for their respective bases, a tea party Republican and die-hard Trump fan versus an unabashed liberal from the Bernie Sanders wing of his party.
DeSantis eschewed traditional grass roots campaigning and even talking much about Florida issues and overwhelmingly won the nomination with a simple message: I am a veteran, a conservative, and Donald Trump's candidate. And unlike Putnam, I am not a career politician or someone who ever veered from the hardest line on illegal immigration.
He spent half as much money as Putnam, and still won by a crushing margin.
"I don't believe any other candidate in the country had to run against a tougher opponent in the primary to Adam Putnam," said DeSantis, who also welcomed the news of Andrew Gillum's nomination.
"He is way, way too liberal for the state of Florida," DeSantis said.
Putnam, 44, was the perfect candidate for Florida governor — if it were 1998.
Decades of courting Republican activists across the state and serving as a Florida legislator, congressman and member of the state Cabinet did not prepare him for the populist wave that elected Trump and took over his life-long party.
The wealthy son of a prominent agriculture family, Putnam raised nearly $39 million and had the support of most of the political establishment in Florida. It wasn't enough, not nearly. He wound up mirroring 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush — just another past-his-expiration politician — at a time when voters are fed up with politics as usual.
"We ran an honest to goodness, genuine, grassroots campaign, and I'm really proud of that," Putnam told supporters at the Terrace Hotel in downtown Lakeland.
Putnam made no mention of Trump, but as he finished, a man shouted "Trump! Trump! Trump!" near the exit. Angered, Putnam supporters tried to force him to leave.
After his remarks, his closest aides and large, extended family hugged and cried in the crowded hotel foyer. Putnam has been in politics since he was elected to the Florida House at age 22. Now, his career in politics could be finished.
Keith Rupp, a former aide to Putnam in Congress, said he is leaving the party.
"I've been a lifelong Republican and I've worked for three different members of Congress," he said. "I can't believe the party has turned into a cult of personalities."
https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buz...-governor/
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