Debates First debate The first debate, moderated by
CNN's
Jake Tapper, was hosted on October 21, 2018, at
WEDU,
Tampa, Florida. It was an hour long debate featuring topics like
climate change,
minimum wage,
health care,
gun control, the
NRA, DeSantis's "monkey up" comment and President
Donald Trump being a role model for children. This debate was held a day before early voting started in Florida on October 22, 2018.
Second debate The second debate occurred on October 24, 2018, and was hosted in
Weston, Florida. It was moderated by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association.
Endorsements {{Endorsements box ;U.S. executive branch officials •
Joe Biden, 47th
vice president of the United States •
Julian Castro, 16th
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development •
Eric Holder, 82nd United States Attorney General •
Valerie Jarrett, former director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs •
Barack Obama, 44th
president of United States ;U.S. senators •
Cory Booker, U.S. senator (D-NJ) •
Bob Graham, former U.S. senator (D-FL) and former governor of Florida •
Kamala Harris, U.S. senator (D-CA) •
Jeff Merkley, U.S. senator (D-OR) •
Chris Murphy, U.S. senator (D-CT) •
Bill Nelson, U.S. senator (D-FL) •
Bernie Sanders, U.S. senator (I-VT) •
Elizabeth Warren, U.S. senator (D-MA) ;U.S. representatives •
Kathy Castor, U.S. representative (FL-14) •
Charlie Crist, U.S. representative (FL-13) and former Republican governor of Florida •
Ted Deutch, U.S. representative (FL-22) •
Gwen Graham, former U.S. representative (FL-2) and former candidate •
Luis Gutiérrez, U.S. representative (IL-04) •
Alcee Hastings, U.S. representative (FL-20) •
David Jolly, former U.S. representative (Republican) (FL-13) •
Ro Khanna, U.S. representative (CA-17) •
Al Lawson, U.S. representative (FL-5) •
John Lewis, U.S. representative (GA-5) •
Patrick Murphy, former U.S. representative (FL-18) •
Stephanie Murphy, U.S. representative (FL-7) •
Adam Schiff, U.S. representative (CA-28) •
Nydia Velázquez, U.S. representative (NY-7) •
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. representative (FL-23) •
Frederica Wilson, U.S. representative (FL-24) ;State and territorial officials •
Aramis Ayala, State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida •
Justin Fairfax, lieutenant governor of Virginia •
John Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado •
Jay Inslee, governor of Washington •
Terry McAuliffe, former governor of Virginia •
Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey •
Ralph Northam, governor of Virginia •
Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland •
Ricardo Rosselló, governor of Puerto Rico •
Dave Zuckerman, lieutenant governor of Vermont ;State legislators •
Joseph Abruzzo, state representative (D-
Boynton Beach) •
Ramon Alexander, state representative (D-
Tallahassee) •
Loranne Ausley, state representative (D-
Tallahassee) •
Randolph Bracy, state senator (D-
Orlando) • Kamia Brown, state representative (D-
Orlando) •
Dwight M. Bullard, former state senator (D-
Miami) •
Jeff Clemens, former state senator (D-
Lake Worth) • Patrick Henry, state representative (D-
Daytona Beach) •
Tony Hill, former state senator (D-
Jacksonville) •
Al Jacquet, state representative (D-
Lantana) •
Mia L. Jones, former state representative (D-
Jacksonville) •
Shevrin D. Jones, state representative (D-
West Park) •
Carlos Guillermo Smith, state representative (D-
Orlando) •
Perry E. Thurston Jr., state senator (D-
Fort Lauderdale) ;Mayors and other municipal leaders •
Bob Buckhorn, mayor of
Tampa, Florida •
Joyce Cusack,
Volusia County Councilwoman •
Bill de Blasio, mayor of
New York City •
Buddy Dyer, mayor of
Orlando, Florida •
Anne M. Gannon,
Palm Beach County Tax Collector •
Letitia James, Public Advocate of New York City •
Rick Kriseman, mayor of
St. Petersburg, Florida •
Philip Levine, former mayor of
Miami Beach and former candidate •
Wayne Messam, mayor of
Miramar • Gwendolyn M. Miller, former chairwoman of the
Tampa, Florida City Council •
Svante Myrick, mayor of
Ithaca, New York • Rosalind Osgood,
Broward County School Board member •
Lauren Poe, mayor of
Gainesville •
Hazelle P. Rogers, mayor of
Lauderdale Lakes •
Levar Stoney, mayor of
Richmond, Virginia ;Individuals •
Alec Baldwin, actor •
Ady Barkan, political activist and director of Fed Up •
Adam Best, entrepreneur, film producer, writer and political activist •
Megan Boone, actress •
Karamo Brown, television host, reality television personality, psychotherapist, and activist •
Charlamagne Tha God, nationally-syndicated radio host •
Sean Combs, rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and entrepreneur •
Billy Corben, documentary film director •
Rosario Dawson, actress and activist •
Lee Daniels, film producer and actor •
Michael Eric Dyson, preacher and academic •
America Ferrera, actress •
Jane Fonda, actress •
Fred Guttenberg, activist •
Malynda Hale, singer •
Grant Hill, professional basketball player •
Alex Hirsch, animator •
John Iadarola, anchor on
The Young Turks •
John P. Kee, gospel singer •
DJ Khaled, disc jockey and record producer •
Shaun King, writer and civil rights activist •
Norman Lear, television writer and producer •
John Leguizamo, actor, stand-up comedian, film producer, playwright, and screenwriter •
Eva Longoria, actress and activist •
Alyssa Milano, actress •
John Morgan, attorney, founder of the law firm Morgan & Morgan •
Ana Navarro, Republican political strategist •
Bob Poe, former chair of the
Florida Democratic Party, Democratic candidate for U.S. House in
2016 •
Cecile Richards, activist •
Rihanna, singer, actress, and diplomat •
Gina Rodriguez, actress and activist •
Rick Ross, rapper, entrepreneur and record executive •
Sonny Perdue,
United States Secretary of Agriculture •
Donald Trump, president of the United States ;U.S. senators •
Marco Rubio, U.S. senator (R-FL) ;U.S. representatives •
Neal Dunn, U.S. representative (FL-02) •
Jenniffer González,
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico •
Brian Mast, U.S. representative (FL-18) •
Lizbeth Benacquisto •
Doug Broxson •
Halsey Beshears •
Travis Cummings •
Bobby Olszewski • Bob Johnson,
Santa Rosa County sheriff • Lou Roberts,
Jackson County sheriff •
Rudy Giuliani, former
mayor of New York City •
Carlos Hernández,
mayor of Hialeah • Eddie Charbonier Chinea, representative •
María Milagros Charbonier, representative •
Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló, representative •
Hushang Ansary, businessman, former diplomat, and philanthropist •
Dan Bongino, NRATV contributor •
David Bossie, political activist •
Kyle Kashuv, school safety activist •
Mark Levin, lawyer, author, and radio personality •
Bernard Marcus, businessman •
David A. Siegel, businessman •
Lara Trump, television host, producer, and daughter-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump •
Richard Uihlein, businessman and major Republican Party donor • Broward Sheriff's Office Deputies Association • The Everglades Trust • First Coast Manufacturers Association •
Florida Chamber of Commerce • Florida Medical Association • Florida Police Benevolent Association • Florida Police Chiefs Association • Florida Realtors Association • Florida Right to Life •
Freedom Partners Action Fund •
Great America Committee •
International Union of Police Associations • JAXBIZ •
National Federation of Independent Business •
NRA Political Victory Fund ;Newspapers •
The Jewish Press }}
Predictions Polling with Ron DeSantis and Gwen Graham with Ron DeSantis and Jeff Greene with Ron DeSantis and Chris King with Ron DeSantis and Philip Levine with Adam Putnam and Andrew Gillum with Adam Putnam and Gwen Graham with Adam Putnam and Jeff Greene with Adam Putnam and Chris King with Adam Putnam and Philip Levine with Bob White and Andrew Gillum with Bob White and Gwen Graham with Bob White and Chris King with Bob White and Philip Levine with generic Republican and Democrat with Richard Corcoran and Andrew Gillum with Richard Corcoran and Gwen Graham with Richard Corcoran and Chris King with Richard Corcoran and Philip Levine with Richard Corcoran and John Morgan with David Jolly and John Morgan with Jeff Atwater and Gwen Graham with Jeff Atwater and John Morgan with Pam Bondi and Gwen Graham with Pam Bondi and John Morgan with David Jolly and Gwen Graham with Andrew Putnam, Andrew Gillum, and John Morgan with Andrew Putnam, Gwen Graham, and John Morgan with Richard Corcoran, Andrew Gillum, and John Morgan with Richard Corcoran, Gwen Graham, and John Morgan with Adam Putnam and John Morgan Results Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic •
Duval (largest municipality:
Jacksonville) •
Seminole (largest municipality:
Sanford)
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican •
Jefferson (largest city:
Monticello) •
Monroe (largest city:
Key West)
By congressional district DeSantis won 14 of 27 congressional districts. ==Analysis==