2018 Florida gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2018 United States gubernatorial elections.

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Government

The 2018 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Florida, alongside an election to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and other state and local elections. Incumbent two-term Republican Governor Rick Scott was term-limited and could not run for a third term, and he successfully ran for Florida's Class I Senate seat.

Republican U.S. representative Ron DeSantis narrowly defeated Democratic mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum for the governorship, in what some considered an upset. The candidate filing deadline was June 22, 2018, and primary elections were held on August 28. Florida uses a closed primary process, in which the selection of each party's candidates for a general election is limited to registered members of that party; Gillum won the Democratic primary and DeSantis the Republican primary.

The close margin mandated a machine recount, which had a deadline of November 15, 2018. After the recount was complete, DeSantis was certified as the winner. Gillum conceded on November 17. DeSantis's victory marked the sixth straight election in which Florida elected a Republican to the governorship, and the third in a row that neither candidate received over 50% of the vote. With a margin of 0.4%, this election was the closest race of the 2018 gubernatorial election cycle. Gillum became the first Democrat to win Duval County since 1986 and Seminole County since 1990, while DeSantis became the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win Jefferson County since 1884.

Republican primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

  • Issak Almaleh, notary
  • Frederick Buntin, incarcerated felon
  • Usha Jain, medical director
  • Jack Latvala, former Florida state senator
  • Armando Adames Rivas, banker
  • Angel Rivera, businessman, political strategist
  • Nathan Dale Wilson

Declined

Endorsements

Ron DeSantis
U.S. executive branch officials
Adam Putnam
U.S. representatives
Statewide officials
State senators
State representatives
Sheriffs
Organizations
Newspapers
Jack Latvala (withdrawn)
U.S. representatives
Bob White
U.S. representatives
  • Ron Paul, former U.S. representative from Texas and presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Results

Results by county:
  DeSantis
  •   DeSantis—40–50%
  •   DeSantis—50–60%
  •   DeSantis—60–70%
  •   DeSantis—70–80%
  Putnam
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%

Democratic primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Gwen Graham
U.S. senators
U.S. representatives
  • Kathy Castor, U.S. representative (FL-14)
  • Jim Davis, former U.S. representative (FL-11), Democratic nominee for governor in 2006
  • Steny Hoyer, U.S. representative (MD-05), House Minority Whip
  • David Jolly, former U.S. representative (Republican) (FL-13)
  • John Lewis, U.S. representative (GA-05)
  • Ted Lieu, U.S. representative (CA-35)
  • Patrick Murphy, former U.S. representative (FL-18), Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016
Statewide officials
State legislators
Mayors and other municipal leaders
Individuals
Organizations
Newspaper editorial boards
Jeff Greene
Newspapers
Chris King
State legislators
  • Nick Duran, state representative (D-Miami)
Mayors and other municipal officials
Organizations
Philip Levine
Statewide officials
State legislators
Mayors and other municipal officials
Individuals
Newspaper editorial boards

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Results

Results by county:
  Gillum
  •   <30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Graham
  •   <30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Levine
  •   <30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%

Independent and third party candidates

Reform Party

Declared

Libertarian Party

Withdrawn

Constitution party

Withdrawn

  • Daniel P. Zutler, businessman and candidate for president in 2016

Independents

Declared

  • Ryan Christopher Foley, former emergency medical technician
  • Kyle "KC" Gibson, pastor
  • Bruce Stanley, environmental activist

Declined

Endorsements

Darcy Richardson (Reform Party)
Individuals
  • Nancy Argenziano, former Florida state senator and public service commissioner
  • Randy Wiseman, former Republican chair of the Lake County School Board
John Morgan (declined)
Individuals

General election

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

Andrew Gillum (D)
U.S. executive branch officials
U.S. senators
U.S. representatives
State and territorial officials
State legislators
Mayors and other municipal leaders
Individuals
Organizations
Newspapers
Sheriffs
Ron DeSantis (R)
U.S. executive branch officials
U.S. senators
U.S. representatives
State senators
State representatives
Sheriffs
Mayors and other municipal leaders
State and territorial officials
Individuals
Organizations
Newspapers
Darcy Richardson (Ref.)
U.S. senators
State officials
  • Nancy Argenziano, former Florida state senator and Public Service Commissioner
  • Randy Wiseman, former Republican chair of the Lake County School Board

Predictions

Notes

Polling

Hypothetical 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

State senate district results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

DeSantis won 14 of 27 congressional districts.

Analysis

The close margin mandated a machine recount, which had a deadline of November 15, 2018. If the margin was below 0.25% after machine recount, Ken Detzner, the Secretary of State of Florida, would commission a manual recount of over-votes and under-votes. However, after the recount was complete, DeSantis' margin was 0.40%; therefore, he was certified the winner. Gillum conceded on November 17.

On November 10, 2022, former president Donald Trump claimed on his Truth Social page that he had prematurely ended the recount to prevent DeSantis and Senate candidate Rick Scott from losing, under the unsubstantiated belief that ballots for them were being removed. Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried has asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate. Sarah Isgur, the spokeswoman of the Department of Justice from 2017 to 2019, has said that it "never happened," a position which was supported by other former Department of Justice officials. Broward County Commissioner Steven Geller agreed that no interference took place.

Voter demographics

See also

Notes

References

Official campaign websites

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