Andrew Gillum (Fla), Stacey Abrams (Ga) & Ben Jealous (Md) could be first Black Governors

MCP

International
International Member
Andrew Gillum, (Fla), Stacey Abrams, (Ga), and Ben Jealous, (Md) Could Be the First Black Governors of Their States

Here’s How They Got This Far

governors-1535565011.jpg


https://theintercept.com/2018/08/29/andrew-gillum-stacey-abrams-ben-jealous-black-governors/

WHAT WE ARE experiencing right now is absolutely historic. The United States does not currently have a single black governor — not one. Florida, Georgia, and Maryland have never had a black governor. No black person has ever been the Democratic Party nominee for governor in Florida or Georgia. But that seems poised to change.

On Tuesday night, Andrew Gillum pulled off a stunning win in Florida’s Democratic primary for governor. He joins Georgia’s Stacey Abrams and Maryland’s Ben Jealous as the third brilliant, successful, and progressive black leader elected to represent the Democratic Party in a gubernatorial race this November. Each of those elections will be a brutal nail-biter, but success is possible.

I’m sorry if you’ve heard me say this before, but it’s hard to understand a moment in history when you are in it. History is better seen, understood, and valued in retrospect. Still, we can already tell that we’re witnessing something potentially monumental. I won’t go as far as calling this moment the new Reconstruction, but we haven’t seen the possibility of this type of political representation at the state level since the years following the Civil War.

How did this happen?

First, let me paint with broad strokes for a moment, then we can get down to the details.

The three candidates are widely known and respected in their home states. They are not fictional creations of a political machine. They’ve been working hard for the people in Florida, Georgia, and Maryland for more than a decade. They have well-established political networks there. Before this spotlight was on them, they had each already fought for change and won on many different occasions. Gillum, now the mayor of Tallahassee, was the youngest person elected to its city council at age 23. Abrams is a former state lawmaker who served as the minority leader of Georgia’s House of Representatives for six years. Jealous is a first-time politician, who became an activist during his college years, eventually working his way up to become the NAACP’s youngest-ever president.

They understand the media landscape. They’ve been on the big stage. They’ve spoken to huge audiences. They understand the nuances of get-out-the-vote campaigns and polling locations. They’ve built and managed teams and organizations. They are each seen as young — Jealous is 45, Abrams is 44, and Gillum is 39, but they are actually seasoned political veterans who’ve been in the public sphere their entire adult lives.

You have to start there. Anything else will put the credit for their victories where it doesn’t quite belong. Gillum, Abrams, and Jealous won because their entire lives and careers built up to this moment. I don’t mean to sound brash, but they are winners. They expected to win. They’ve won before. And that matters.

All three of them are also practical, down-to-earth bridge builders. They have strong views and policies, yes, but all three understand that to get stuff done on the state or local level, you have to build functional coalitions of diverse groups. The base of that coalition may very well be black — each of them has a very strong base of black support that they build and work from — but they learned a long time ago how to build broader coalitions in order to accomplish their goals.

ENTER SEN. BERNIE SANDERS. He endorsed Gillum, Abrams, and Jealous, and he also traveled to Florida and Maryland to campaign alongside the candidates there. (Sanders endorsed Jealous almost a year ahead of his June primary, but he announced his support for Gillum and Abrams just weeks before their elections.) The Vermont senator’s efforts helped solidify the progressive base for those candidates. They’ll each tell you that it made a difference. In fact, Gillum tweeted as much within hours of winning his election. Sanders’s support wasn’t enough for them to win, of course, but it definitely helped. His base is deeply committed and trusts him. They donate. They show up to events. They volunteer and phone-bank. Sanders’s network supercharged the trio’s already progressive campaigns.

Let’s pause right there for a moment. This is a huge deal. By bringing together a highly engaged black voting base with Sanders’s deeply committed core base of supporters, Gillum, Abrams, and Jealous have accomplished what Democrats will need to do if they are going to have any real success moving forward — they have unified the devoted base of the Democratic Party with the Berniecrats. That’s no small feat — and I’m not sure anybody other than these three black candidates for governor could’ve done it this way.

So that’s the macro-narrative. Gillum, Abrams, and Jealous won because they are deeply rooted, highly experienced political organizers with pre-established bases of support who knew that, in order to win, they’d need smart coalitions.

But politics is local. And the fact is that Gillum, Abrams, and Jealous made a slew of essential local decisions that resonated well with voters. Essentially, instead of jumping to the middle, and not really committing to serious policy reforms, they did the exact opposite and took strong stands on expanding access to health care, criminal justice reform, civil rights and voting rights, a living wage, better schools and better pay for teachers, and so much more. Those issues resonated deeply with voters — so much that Gillum was outspent by a factor of five by the establishment favorite in the race, Gwen Graham, but still won. (Gillum was the only non-millionaire in the race, but his financial backing by liberal billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer, through their groups the Open Society Foundations and NextGen America, was instrumental to his campaign.)

Gillum also took a meaningful stand on an issue that resonates strongly with voters by Florida, which has seen a number of high-profile mass shootings in recent years: gun reform. He was celebrated in early 2017for beating back a lawsuit filed by the gun lobby and supported by the National Rifle Association. No other candidate could say that. In exchange, he got the support of gun reform groups like Moms Demand Action, which endorsed him in April. Young activist survivors of the Parkland school shooting campaigned for him.

All of that mattered.

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But in the end, Gillum, Abrams, and Jealous made it this far because they out-organized their opponents. They built complex ground games that got people out to vote. They crisscrossed their states, holding rallies and town halls, shaking hands, looking voters directly in the eye, and answering tough questions. They went to community centers and senior citizen homes. They held large events, but ultimately won people over in living rooms and at kitchen tables.

Many things about how the 2016 presidential campaign went down turned me off to the Democratic Party. And it’s not just the presidency: The party has no control over either the House or the Senate. The same goes for the majority of state legislatures and governorships across the country. But these candidates give me hope. They are different.

 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS ARE POURING MILLIONS INTO RHODE ISLAND TO SAVE AN UNPOPULAR GOVERNOR FROM AN INSURGENT CHALLENGE

MEANWHILE, The Democratic Party and its allies are pumping much-needed resources into Rhode Island in an effort prop up an unpopular incumbent governor facing an insurgent challenge in a blue state.



The Intercept
Aída Chávez
September 10 2018, 2:43 p.m.
Photo: Steven Senne/AP


DEMOCRATS ACROSS THE country are zeroed in on a handful of dynamic gubernatorial candidates hoping to make history in three states currently governed by Republicans. In Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams, and Ben Jealous are running unapologetically progressive campaigns that could result in each candidate becoming the first African-American to govern each state.

The Democratic Party and its allies, meanwhile, are pumping much-needed resources into Rhode Island in an effort prop up an unpopular incumbent governor facing an insurgent challenge in a blue state.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo is working to fend off a progressive, albeit underfunded, primary challenge from the left. Matt Brown, a former Rhode Island secretary of state, is running a grassroots campaign against Raimondo, who he describes as “the most extreme corporatist Democrat in the country.”

The Democratic Governors Association has pumped in $1 million to support Raimondo, money that won’t be available for Georgia, Florida, or Maryland. EMILY’s List, which helps elect pro-choice women, jumped in as well, spending $345,000 on pre-primary mailers for the incumbent. Although Raimondo presents herself as pro-choice, she was criticized by reproductive rights advocates for passing what amounted to restrictions on abortion access during her first term in office and is listed as “mixed-choice” by NARAL Pro-Choice America.

A July survey found Raimondo with a 40 percent job approval rating among the general public and 58 percent among Democrats. That dropped to 29 percent among independents, who are legally allowed to vote in Wednesday’s primary.

Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, has raised nearly $7.8 million for her re-election, raking in much of her fundraising from the same corporate players responsible for the state’s fiscal problems. The claim of “most extreme corporatist” may sound like hyperbole, but as state treasurer, Raimondo touched off a scandal by pushing through pension reform legislation that handed a billion dollars of state worker money over to hedge funds with links to the conservative movement, which harvested eye-popping fees.

Brown would have to overcome steep odds, but he maintains that the race is closer than public polls show. And the Raimondo campaign’s decision to go negative in the days leading up to the September 12 primary — from a TV ad accusing her opponent of “money laundering” to attacks centered on the nuclear nonproliferation group he co-founded —indicate the race is indeed tightening. One mailer, funded by a pro-Raimondo Super PAC, showed an image of a nuclear explosion and read “Matt Brown Nuked His Own Nonprofit.”

She’s also taking it seriously enough to have gone out and acquired an endorsement from civil rights icon John Lewis, a congressperson from Georgia. But when Lewis later learned Raimondo was running against Brown, whom he called a “very, very good friend,” he said publicly that he regretted the endorsement.


DESPITE HER FUNDRAISING prowess, Raimondo is so unpopular she could lose the general election in the solidly blue state. However, former state Rep. Joe Trillo, who was President Donald Trump’s state campaign chairman, is running as an independent and could act as a spoiler, helping Raimondo’s re-election chances. Recent polls have her deadlocked with Republican candidate Allan Fung, who she narrowly defeated in 2014. That year, the Raimondo campaign spent about $6.3 million in a three-way race in which she won 41 percent of the vote. The same July poll found Brown 15 points behind the likely GOP challenger, but 45 percent of voters still hadn’t heard of him, meaning he could quickly gain ground by winning the nomination.


Raimondo’s head-to-head polling calls into question the conventional argument that centrist or pro-corporate candidates deserve support because they are more electable. “She’s taken millions in campaign contributions from Wall Street, fossil fuel industry, tobacco industry, lobbyists, corporations, tax breaks, and benefits from the state,” Brown said in an interview. “And she has, I think, raised a total of $7 million dollars now for this race and yet, as you point out, still a large majority of Rhode Islanders are looking for a different candidate with a different vision.”

Throughout her political career, Raimondo has also received thousands of dollars from the family that owns Purdue Pharma, a company widely blamed for fueling the opioid epidemic.

Brown’s campaign has sworn off corporate political action committee money, relying instead on individual contributions. The campaign boasts hundreds of volunteers that knock on doors and hold phone-banking sessions. In the first two months of the campaign, he said, they held over 70 events all across the state, “in people’s living rooms, talking to their friends and neighbors.” As for his policies, he’s running on “Medicare for All,” the creation of a public bank, tuition-free college, undoing Raimondo’s cuts to Medicaid, and a “Green New Deal.”


The gubernatorial hopeful has the backing of progressive groups like Our Revolution, Justice Democrats, Indivisible Rhode Island, and Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America. Raimondo, on the other hand, is supported by nearly all local labor unions, Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island Political Action Committee, LGBTQ community advocates, and the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Raimondo has refused to participate in even a single debate with her primary opponent. “She has funded her campaign with millions of dollars from Wall Street and corporations in an attempt to buy the election, while doing no debates with me about our records and our visions for the state,” Brown said. “So, it’s really — the kind of campaign she’s running is not democracy.” Raimondo told the Providence Journal she skipped out on debating because Brown is “not operating in good faith,” accusing him of telling lies.

The only conclusion one can come to when a candidate avoids debate, Brown said, is that the candidate has an indefensible record. “And in her case, it’s a record of always working for Wall Street and corporations at the expense of the people. It’s a record of cutting Medicaid and giving out corporate giveaways, handouts, out to handpicked corporations that are often her campaign donors,” he continued.

“It’s a record of taking money from the executives of a gas company and then turning around and announcing that we’re going to do ‘whatever we have to to make sure we’re successful here at building a fracked gas and diesel oil burning plant in Rhode Island,’ which would be bad for everyone in the state, bad for our future, bad for our children. The only one it’s good for is the corporation. The fracked gas corporation, they’d make a bundle off Rhode Islanders, and Gov. Raimondo gets campaign contributions from them in return.”

Historic primary victories, like that of Ayanna Pressley, who unseated a 10-term Democratic incumbent in Massachusetts, or Gillum’s victory in Florida, have energized him. “I think we’re on the verge of the next major upset in this battle for the future of the Democratic Party,” he said.


https://theintercept.com/2018/09/10/matt-brown-gina-raimondo-democratic-primary-rhode-island/


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QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Poll: Gillum leads DeSantis by 6 points in Florida governor race


The Hill
By Brett Samuels
9/19/18


Democrat Andrew Gillum holds a 6-point lead over Ron DeSantis (R) in the hotly contested gubernatorial campaign in Florida, according to a new poll.

The Reuters–Ipsos–UVA Center for Politics poll found that 50 percent of voters surveyed support Gillum, compared to 44 percent who back DeSantis.

The remaining percentage of voters said they support a different candidate or did not indicate support for any candidate.

Gillum and DeSantis are running to replace outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R), who is term-limited and running for Senate. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the gubernatorial contest a “toss-up.”

The Reuters poll shows Gillum with a slightly larger cushion than most other polls have shown thus far.

A RealClearPolitics average of polls in shows Gillum with a lead of roughly 4 percentage points.

Gillum, currently the mayor of Tallahassee, has earned the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and has campaigned on a progressive agenda that includes expanding Medicare to cover everyone.

DeSantis, who resigned as a congressman earlier this month to focus on campaigning for governor, has received the endorsement of President Trump.

DeSantis sparked controversy just a day after he and Gillum won their respective primaries when he urged voters not to “monkey this up” by voting for Gillum, who would be the state's first African-American governor, and his policies in the November election.

His comments prompted fierce backlash, with critics suggesting the remarks had racial undertones or were outright racist.

DeSantis denied that race had anything to do with his comments, but instead argued he was focusing on "ideas and principles."

The Reuters–Ipsos–UVA Center for Politics poll surveyed 1,000 voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.


https://thehill.com/homenews/campai...desantis-by-6-points-in-florida-governor-race


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MCP

International
International Member
A few progressives on the left has noticed that since winning the democratic nomination for Governor of Florida, Andrew Gilliam's stance on medicare for all has somewhat shifted since.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
A few progressives on the left has noticed that since winning the democratic nomination for Governor of Florida, Andrew Gilliam's stance on medicare for all has somewhat shifted since.

Is that a strategy or shift shaped around winning or losing ?
 

MCP

International
International Member
Is that a strategy or shift shaped around winning or losing ?

If you looked at the statistics for what the average american would like, many of them would like medicare for all, both those who would vote republican or democrat.

http://www.medicareforall.org/pages/Chart_of_Americans_Support

You asked on whether the platform for medicare for all is that of a strategy for winning. I believe that this is one of the reason why he won the democratic nomination for governor. Changing the rhetoric half way through a campaign could possibly come back and hurt him.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
You asked on whether the platform for medicare for all is that of a strategy for winning. I believe that this is one of the reason why he won the democratic nomination for governor. Changing the rhetoric half way through a campaign could possibly come back and hurt him.

I don’t really question your logic, but I do think campaigns tend to be tailored around the circumstances. What works in a primary may often have to be massaged when the focus shifts to the general population. Of course, shiftiness can hurt but so can ideological stiffness.
 
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QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
P.S.

If you happen across a poll measuring the support of Puerto Rican’s “now residing in Florida” — please post it. I’m interested in knowing what they’re thinking and whether they may be “Making Florida Blue Again.”

 

MCP

International
International Member


This is sounding more and more like Andrew is slowly moving away from a progressive stance.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
This is sounding more and more like Andrew is slowly moving away from a progressive stance.

Wondering, will Hillary’s support in Florida do more harm than good or good than harm???

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MCP

International
International Member
Wondering, will Hillary’s support in Florida do more harm than good or good than harm???

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Having Hillary supporting you in Florida could be counterproductive, noting Hillary's record in Florida from the last election.
 

muckraker10021

Superstar *****
BGOL Investor
RepubliKlan Governor candidate Brian Kemp Has Purged 10% of Voters in Georgia
2018_1008-palast-kemp-1200x675.jpg

Journalist Greg Palast confronts GOP candidate for Governor of Georgia Brian Kemp outside the Sprayberry Barbecue in Newman, Georgia, asking, “Mr. Kemp are you removing Black voters from the voter rolls just so you can win this election?”

....This past week, I released the name of every one of these Georgia voters Kemp flushed from voter rolls in 2017. If you’re a Georgia resident, check the list. If your name is on it, re-register right now....

Read the entire story - https://truthout.org/articles/gops-brian-kemp-purged-1-in-10-georgia-voters-ive-got-the-names/
https://truthout.org/articles/gops-brian-kemp-purged-1-in-10-georgia-voters-ive-got-the-names/
 

sharkbait28

Unionize & Prepare For Automation
International Member
Stacey Abrams on point! Hope all y'all GA folks get out to vote for her :cool:

 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Poll shows Andrew Gillum with
9-point lead over Ron DeSantis



A poll of likely Florida voters released Wednesday found Democrat Andrew Gillum with a significant 54 percent to 45 percent lead over Republican Ron DeSantis.

The Quinnipiac Univesity Poll shows Gillum has passed the 50 percent threshold among likely Florida voters.


Gillum has gained and DeSantis has slipped since a Sept. 4 survey by Quinnipiac, in which the Democrat had the support of 50 percent and the Republican had the support of 47 percent of likely voters.

Gillum support
The latest poll shows the Democratic nominee, currently mayor of Tallahassee, has strong support among multiple demographic groups:

-- Women favor Gillum 59 percent to 39 percent.

-- Black voters favor Gillum 98 percent to 2 percent. If elected, Gillum would be Florida’s first black governor.

-- Hispanic voters support him 59 percent to 41 percent.

-- Independents favor the Democrat, 56 percent to 40 percent.

Democrats support Gillum 96 percent to 2 percent.

DeSantis support
The Republican nominee, who was a congressman until resigning this month to campaign full time, finds his support concentrated in the Republican Party’s base:https://www.bgol.us/news/politics/fl-ne-voter-registration-midterm-elections-20180925-story.html
-- Men favor DeSantis, 51 percent to 48 percent.

-- Republicans favor their party’s nominee 90 percent to 9 percent.

-- White voters back DeSantis 53 percent to 45 percent.

Favorability
Quinnipiac also found Florida voters view Gillum an DeSantis differently.

-- Gillum is rated favorably by 55 percent of likely voters surveyed and negatively by 31 percent, for a net positive of 24 points.

-- Voters have a somewhat unfavorable view of DeSantis, with 42 percent viewing him positively and 47 percent negatively, which puts him 5 points underwater.
At this point, Gillum's biggest asset is just that voters like him better," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in written analysis of the results.

On Tuesday, the NBC News/Marist Poll showed Gillum with 48 percent to DeSantis’s 43 percent, a 5-point advantage for the Democrat.

Previously, Gillum was plus 4, plus 2, plus 6, plus 6, plus 4, plus 3 and plus 2.

In almost every poll, the lead is within the margin of error. When the leads are within the margin of error, the race could be tied — or DeSantis could actually be slightly ahead.

The margin of error in the Quinnipiac survey is plus or minus 4 percentage points, which means Gillum’s 9-point lead is statistically significant. Breakdowns for smaller groups, such as men, women, Democrats and Republicans, have higher margins of error.

In the NBC/Marist poll the margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Bill Nelson, had 48 percent and his Republican challenger, Gov. Rick Scott, had 45 percent. Quinnipiac had Nelson at 53 percent and Scott at 46 percent.)

That doesn’t mean the election is over. It does mean that Gillum supporters need to avoid complacency and a feeling that he’s going to win so actually going out and voting isn’t critical — much the way some people who preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump didn’t bother voting because they figured Clinton was sure to win.

And Republicans are mounting an extensive effort, both in person through DeSantis and via television ads, to sow fear about Gillum.

“All these TV ads don’t seem to be helping DeSantis’ campaign,” Brown said. “Those TV ads, run in an effort to introduce DeSantis to Florida voters, are airing at the same time his favorability numbers are sinking and Mayor Gillum's are rising.”


The fine print
The Quinnipiac poll of 888 likely Florida voters was conducted from Thursday through Monday.

The NBC/Marist poll of 600 likely Florida voters was conducted from Sept. 16-20.

Quinnipiac and Marist, which both used live callers to landline and mobile numbers, are among the best regarded pollsters in the business. Pollster ratings from statisticians at fivethirtyeight.com give Quinnipiac and A minus and Marist College an A.



http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-florida-governor-quinnipiac-poll-20180926-story.html


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muckraker10021

Superstar *****
BGOL Investor
Disgustingly Racist Robocall Goes Out Against Andrew Gillum In Florida





Trump like Hitler in his early years of Terror is laying the groundwork for a fascist coup d'etat. His rock steady 35% hardcore racist faux-religious white-supremacist base is with Drumpf, ready to accept Fascism because they foolishly believe it won't affect them. Hitler's "good germans" also thought that what Hitler was doing to those "other people" would not effect them.


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donald-trump-nuremberg-rallies.jpg

Donald Trump ‘Thank You’ Tour Rallies First Of Their Kind Since Hitler's Nuremberg Rallies

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QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Trump claims black Democrat Andrew Gillum is a 'thief,' mayor of 'corrupt' city

President Trump built his appeal on a mix of populism and elitism — a contradictory combination that was perfectly on display in one of his Monday tweets.

As polls show Florida's gubernatorial race consistently leaning toward Democrat Andrew Gillum, Trump againrelayed his support for GOP candidate Rep. Ron DeSantis (Fla.).

In his Monday tweet, Trump called DeSantis a "Harvard/Yale educated man,"

while referring to Gillum as a "thief" and "mayor of poorly run Tallahassee."

In a response to Trump's tweet, the Toronto Star's Daniel Dale points out the obvious: "There's no evidence Andrew Gillum is a thief," and that "Gillum is a black man." Still, Trump's latest endorsement, which some critics calleda "dog whistle," seems another indication that he is going all-in for DeSantis, who has repeatedly made his ties to Trump as a selling point for his campaign. And Trump, as The New York Times' Jonathan Martin put it, "will own this loss should DeSantis fall short."

Kathryn Krawczyk
 

MASTERBAKER

༺ S❤️PER❤️ ᗰOD ༻
Super Moderator
Trump just attacked Andrew Gillum. Gillum’s counterattack ignited a new Twitter beef
NATALIE DICKINSON

PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 29, 2018

SHARE THIS STORY


Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum’s bid to wrest the Florida Governor’s Mansion from the Republican Party is picking up steam ahead of next week’s elections. Gillum thrashed his Republican opponent Ron DeSantis at a recent debate, proving himself to be an intelligent and tough politician and exposing DeSantis as unready and unable to defend his positions.




Edward Hardy

✔@EdwardTHardy

https://twitter.com/EdwardTHardy/status/1055550765241131014

Andrew Gillum: "I'm not calling Mr DeSantis a racist. I'm simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist"

4:04 PM - Oct 25, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacy




Now, Gillum is going right for the jugular of the GOP by taking on Donald Trump. Earlier today, the president tweeted out one of his usual tweets attacking a Democratic politician, and this time it happened to be Gillum. He baselessly accused the gubernatorial candidate of being a “thief” and claimed that he’s done a poor job as Mayor of Tallahassee.


Since it’s Trump, one can’t rule out the likelihood that Trump was engaging in a racist dog whistle, calling Gillum a thief to appeal to the bigots in his electorate who conflate blackness with criminality.


Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1056922209111994373

In Florida there is a choice between a Harvard/Yale educated man named @RonDeSantisFL who has been a great Congressman and will be a great Governor - and a Dem who is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!

10:54 AM - Oct 29, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacy




Unlike some who have been targeted by Trump in the past, Gillum hit back quickly. He called out Trump’s lack of courage in his failing to tag or “@” him in his original tweet, meaning that the president’s message wasn’t immediately sent to Gillum and he had to learn of it secondhand.

Gillum added that Trump is “howling because he’s weak” before urging voters to get to the polls. His assessment is spot on. Trump is indeed weak, and his Twitter outbursts are nothing more than the vain thrashings of a man helpless to stop the wave building against him.

Gillum is leading in the polls, and if he is able to win next week the loss of the Florida governorship would be a powerful rebuke of Trump’s administration and the broader Republican Party. Florida voters have a chance to embrace positive change and reject the fearmongering and hatred of the GOP.


Andrew Gillum

✔@AndrewGillum


Governor candidate, FL

https://twitter.com/AndrewGillum/status/1056931124470079488

On Twitter there is a choice between having the courage to @ the person you are trash talking, or not. @realDonaldTrump is howling because he's weak. Florida, go vote today.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

In Florida there is a choice between a Harvard/Yale educated man named @RonDeSantisFL who has been a great Congressman and will be a great Governor - and a Dem who is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!

11:29 AM - Oct 29, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacy




Knowing Trump, this won’t be the last time he attacks Gillum on Twitter. And, judging by Gillum’s masterful handling of the situation, this won’t be the last time the Democratic candidate hits back hard.

Click here to donate to Gillum’s campaign.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Stacey Abrams: The Deep South woman vying to make history

By Courtney Subramanian
BBC News. Atlanta, Georgia
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
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Image captionStacey Abrams is aiming to make history as the country's first black female governor


A battle for the governor's mansion in the US state of Georgia features a woman vying to become the first black American female to run a state.

Knots of people clustered outside Hendershots coffeehouse wait for a black SUV to arrive from Atlanta 70 miles away.

The crowd untangles into a line of supporters wrapped around the exposed brick building, as evening sets upon the college town of Athens, Georgia, on an October autumn day.

A blend of parents, professors and older residents, adorned in campaign buttons and clutching signs, interrupt groups of eager students standing outside the trendy live music venue.

"Remember to vote!" they say.

It's a scene reserved for national politicians or pop stars breezing through town, but the whirring sounds of chatter and intermittent chants are for Stacey Abrams, a 44-year-old lawyer and former state legislator, who is deadlocked in a contentious race with Georgia's secretary of state, Republican Brian Kemp.

The race is emblematic of two narratives reverberating throughout the US in the wake of the election of President Donald Trump.

Mr Kemp, a self-described "politically incorrect conservative", echoes the brand of Trump Republicanism that focuses on tax cuts, protecting gun rights and "rounding up criminal illegals" in his truck - as noted in one of his early political ads.

The competing narrative is that of Ms Abrams, a progressive female candidate of colour who has appealed to minority voters, a group on which she has focused much of her campaign.

In fact, of the nearly 945,000 Georgia residents who have already cast an early vote, about 30% are black, a markedly higher rate than the 2014 mid-term figures.

Experts point out that North Carolina and South Carolina have not yet seen a similar increase among black voters, which could underscore just how energised Ms Abrams' base may be.

And more Georgians are registered to vote than ever before - 6.9 million out of the state's 10.4 million residents.

Jaylen Black, a 21-year-old senior at University of Georgia, has been volunteering for the Abrams campaign for a year and three months.

"Her campaign means everything to me," she says, donning a navy blue Abrams T-shirt as she walks to the candidate's next appearance at a bar down the street.

"I care about policies but truly I always felt like there was no one of either party that represented issues that were pertinent to my community, as an African American," Ms Black continues.

"And when Stacey was running, it wasn't just that she was a black woman but she just felt so real as a candidate. For the first time I felt like I was talking to somebody who was on my level like we were just people."

That authenticity appears to have resonated with Ms Abrams' most ardent supporters, many of whom affectionately refer to her as Stacey.

"I think this also starts a legacy for black women. I'm not necessarily voting for her because she's a black woman but because she's a black woman she understands in a different perspective," says 25-year-old Yanill Sanchez, an African-American graduate student at University of Georgia.

She says relieving college debt and expanding access to financial aid has struck a chord with young voters.

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Image captionHang on, what ARE the US "mid-terms"?
"She's trailblazing a movement for us", adds Andrea Glaze, a 25-year-old black graduate student standing outside Hendershots after Ms Abrams' first appearance.

A short walk from the cafe, the woman they've all come to see again see takes to the stage.

"Are you guys lost?" she asks.

"No! We're found!" a student supporter shouts as the crowd erupts into cheers beneath the festoon lights.

Image copyrightEPA
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Image captionStacey Abrams speaks to supporters, joined by Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Presseley (R) and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Born into poverty in rural Mississippi, Ms Abrams arrived in Georgia during high school with her parents, who moved to attend Emory University's theology school to become ministers.

She graduated magna cum laude from Spelman, a historically black women's college in Atlanta, before earning a law degree from Yale and a degree in public policy from the University of Austin.

Kenja McCray, a history professor based in Atlanta who also went to Spelman, recalls Ms Abrams at university.

"She was very motivated, very serious, very focused and always running for something in SGA [Student Government Association]," she recalls.

Ms McCray began volunteering at a phone bank for Ms Abrams to show support as a fellow Spelman alumna, and to demonstrate to her two daughters, ages 18 and 20, how important it is to vote.

But the difficulty her daughters endured in trying to register shed light on how high the stakes were in this year's mid-term, Ms McCray says.

"I thought, 'how many other kids - other people - out there are going through that?' And I realised we have a lot of work to do," she says.

Ms Abrams' critics point out that she has attracted funding from outside donors while she's regularly featured in national headlines, appearing on the cover of Time magazine.

But her rise from poverty to power is a more familiar theme than some of her opponents may think, says LaDawn "LBJ" Jones, a solicitor in South Fulton.

"What her candidacy says to me is she can speak to the common man," she says. "It follows a narrative that Kemp supporters would like to put out, which is 'pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.'"

"Because of that background, because of that history and what she had to do to get there - I hope that is encouraging to other African Americans and people in general - that there are no limits and nothing to stop you from at least reaching your goals."

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A flashpoint in voter rights
The race for the governor's mansion culminates a longstanding saga between Ms Abrams and Mr Kemp over a systemic issue at the heart of US elections - voting rights.

As secretary of state, Mr Kemp's office oversaw the cancellation of 1.5m voter registration applications between 2012-16 - 750,000 more than it did in the previous period, according to a report by New York University's Brennan Center , a public-policy think tank.

A recent report by American Public Media found that more than half a million voters were purged last year, and of those 107,000 were removed because of the so-called "use it or lose it policy", which cuts people from polls if they chose not to vote in previous elections.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
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Image captionAccording to the latest polls, Mr Kemp is leading Ms Abrams by 2% - within the margin of error
Earlier this month, the Associated Press found that Mr Kemp's office had held up more than 53,000 voter registration applications, of which nearly 70% were filed by African Americans, over the state's so-called exact match law. African Americans make up just 32% of the state's population.

That policy, which requires applications to exactly match information on file with the Georgia Department of Driver Services or the Social Security Administrations, has delayed applications for infractions as minor as a missing hyphen in a name.

Mr Kemp has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that he has made it easier to vote and that it was the failure to properly register residents by the New Georgia Project, a voter-registration initiative he investigated in 2014 that was founded by Ms Abrams.

His campaign spokesman has said Mr Kemp is "fighting to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure that only legal citizens cast a ballot", but critics argue that it undermines eligible voters.

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More on US mid-terms

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Tensions are high with just a week left before election night.

Mr Kemp has attacked Ms Abrams for being "too extreme" for Georgia, pointing to her plan to expand the Medicaid health programme for the poor to stem a rural hospital shortage.

She wants "higher taxes, bigger government and a single-payer radical government takeover of healthcare", he said during a recent debate.

Ms Abrams was also forced to address an uncomfortable episode in which a New York Times report revealed she burned the Georgia state flag on the steps of the State Capitol in 1992 as a college freshman.

The design included the Confederate battle-flag symbol, a defiant nod to desegregation when it was adopted in 1956. She apologised for the "peaceful protest", pointing out that the flag has since changed and Mr Kemp voted to remove the symbol 10 years later.

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Power of the (black female) vote
The Peach State has not seen a Democratic governor since 2003, when Sonny Perdue became the first Republican elected since Reconstruction in the late 19th Century.

But the state has seen an influx of Latinos and African Americans, who tend to lean Democratic, in recent years.

Some attribute this change to a "great reverse migration" of African Americans from northern to southern states, a reference to the six million black Americans who left the rural south during the early to mid-20th century.

Ms Abrams has focused on these voters - she has visited every one of Georgia's 159 counties, including some previously ignored by Democratic candidates.

Mrs Jones, the solicitor, admits she supported Ms Abrams' opponent in the Democratic primary, Stacy Evans, a white woman.

"What we found out in the end is Stacey Abrams worked her tail off," Mrs Jones says. "She touched on the doors of people who had not had their doors knocked on by a candidate in years."

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
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Image captionTurnout among black female voters in this year's Democratic state primary has increased 32% from 2014
While turning out the vote has been a major component of the Abrams campaign, black women in Georgia have been a consistent voting bloc in recent years.

Mrs McCray feels like black female voters sometimes "fall through the cracks" when it comes to political representation.

"One of the pitfalls of being a faithful voter is that you can be taken for granted and that is a narrative that is a concern about the Democratic Party," she says.

"We face a lot more obstacles in terms of getting those leadership positions so it's important to see somebody win who represents us."

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Changing of the guard
Women of colour, who currently hold just eight (2.6%) statewide elected executive offices, represent 10% of all nominees and 30% of female nominees for statewide elected executive office this year, according to Kelly Dittmar of the Center for American Women in Politics.

Female state legislative candidates have won nominations in record numbers this year, she adds. It's a trend analysts are seeing on a national stage, too.

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Image captionThe "Pink Wave": How women are shaping the 2018 US elections
Michigan's Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota's Ilhan Omar, both Democrats, are poised to become the first Muslim-American women in Congress. Two more Democratic black women, Jahana Hayes and Ayanna Pressley, are also set to be the first women of colour in their states' congressional delegations.

That enthusiasm for change is felt in a corner of Georgia considered to be the most diverse county in the state, if not the entire US southeast.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
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And this year the interest has increased. Turnout among black female voters in this year's Democratic state primary jumped 32% on 2014, according to data from the secretary of state's office.

Marlene Taylor-Crawford moved to Georgia nearly 20 years ago, trading in the dense, pockmarked streets of New York City for the sweeping highways that loop the outskirts of Atlanta, leading to Gwinnett County.

"It was like stepping into a time warp," the single mother of three, who is African American, recalls of the mostly white community after arriving in 1999. "I had to find my way to be around people who shared my interests."

The former farming community, home to about 920,000 residents and 16 municipalities, has transformed into a majority-non-white county.

That new makeup - about 28% African American, 21% Latinos and 12% Asians - has not always been reflected in government, says Ms Taylor-Crawford, president of the community's United Ebony Society.

"If you went to a Gwinnett County commission meeting and knew nothing about Gwinnett County you would think this community is 99% white," she says.

But change is afoot both in Gwinnett County and elsewhere in Georgia.

In fact, the county elected its first African-American judge - a woman - in September and two cities recently voted for Gwinnett's first-ever black mayors.

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Image captionAmerican politics - 30 miles, three very different view points.
Ms Taylor-Crawford is confident that voters are more engaged because of candidates like Ms Abrams. She's seeing new faces at local government meetings, she says, and receiving more calls about United Ebony Society events.

"We are a strong voting bloc, we vote consistently and we encourage others to vote so our voices are very strong," she contends of black female voters in Gwinnett.

Much like Gwinnett, the US is expected to become majority-non-white by 2044, according to the US Census Bureau.

And what happens in Gwinnett County could be a harbinger for whether Georgia will see the country's first black governor.

"She represents strength, perseverance and faith. She is showing Georgia that we are still rising, we can still accomplish and we will accomplish," she says of Ms Abrams.

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Will Georgia make history?
Will the enthusiasm for Ms Abrams change Georgia from red (Republican) to blue (Democratic)?

President Trump, who has endorsed Mr Kemp for governor, won Georgia easily against Hillary Clinton.

But Ms Jones thinks that Mr Trump hasn't "moved the needle" with the African-American community, despite the president's penchant for touting a record-low black unemployment rate.

She says Mr Trump may have "lowered the bar" on civility, but that the black community is more energised to turn out because of the names on the ballot.

"People are excited because they're mad at Trump, but they're excited because for the first time a candidate has put in the energy to come and ask them to vote and explain why their vote matters."

Image copyrightREGINALD DUNCAN/CRANIUM CREATION
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Image captionLaDawn Jones says that regardless of the election outcome, Stacey Abrams has opened doors for African-American women in politics
Ms Abrams has been a tax attorney, a romance novelist and Atlanta's deputy city attorney before she became the first woman to lead a caucus in Georgia's state legislature as House minority leader.

Whether she again will etch her name in Georgia's history books is up to the voters, but her candidacy marks a change in political winds for African-American women.

"I work with people running for elected office and prior to Stacey Abrams I had a whole session on how to dress, what to wear and what you should and shouldn't do," Mrs Jones recalls.

"I have changed that. It no longer means straightening your hair to please the people whose door you're knocking on, or wearing a face full of makeup because you're a woman.

"Stacey being authentically herself has opened the door to many people, but particularly African-American women who identify with her who can say, 'I can run for office and I'm not prohibited because I have dreadlocks.'"

Copyright © 2018 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.


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QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Andrew Gillum withdraws concession as Florida recount begins
By Gregory Krieg and Ryan Nobles, CNN
Updated 5:48 PM EST, Sat November 10, 2018
181102165531-01-andrew-gillum-file-1102-super-169.jpg




(CNN)Democrat Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession to Republican former Rep. Ron DeSantis in the Florida governor's race on Saturday, hours after the secretary of state announced a recount of their race and two others.

"I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote," he said with the recount now underway.

Gillum on Tuesday evening had told tearful supporters in Tallahassee, "We recognize that we didn't win this tonight."
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Andrew Gillum withdraws concession as Florida recount begins
By Gregory Krieg and Ryan Nobles, CNN
Updated 5:48 PM EST, Sat November 10, 2018
181102165531-01-andrew-gillum-file-1102-super-169.jpg




(CNN)Democrat Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession to Republican former Rep. Ron DeSantis in the Florida governor's race on Saturday, hours after the secretary of state announced a recount of their race and two others.

"I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote," he said with the recount now underway.

Gillum on Tuesday evening had told tearful supporters in Tallahassee, "We recognize that we didn't win this tonight."
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
DAVID DUKE EXPLICITLY SUPPORTS TRUMP

Well, I haven’t seen where Trump has Explicitly or Implicitly renounced or denounced David Duke’s support or opinion that Trump’s so-called brand of nationalism is anything but white nationalism as David Duke affirmed.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
2018 MIDTERMS
Stacey Abrams' campaign files new lawsuit in Georgia's gubernatorial election
https://theweek.com/speedreads/8072...s-new-lawsuit-georgias-gubernatorial-election


Jessica McGowan / Getty Images

As Georgia's gubernatorial race continues to tighten as votes are counted, Democrat Stacey Abrams' campaign has filed a new lawsuit in federal court.

Abrams' campaign seeks to challenge the rejection of some absentee ballots, which were thrown out because of small mistakes, such as the voter listing the date they were filling out the ballot instead of their date of birth, The Washington Post reports. The suit also seeks to count provisional ballots that were rejected due to the voter still being listed as registered in a different county even after they've moved away.

This lawsuit concerns two counties, Gwinnett and Dekalb, and Abrams' campaign wants election officials to get in touch with the voters whose ballots have these problems rather than not counting the ballots at all. The Abrams campaign is also seeking to extend by one day the deadline by which counties must certify their election results, delaying it from Nov. 13 to Nov. 14, CNN reports.

Based on The New York Times' latest estimates, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) currently leads Abrams with 50.3 percent of the vote. But that percentage has gradually lowered in recent days as additional votes have been counted, and if it drops below 50 percent, a run-off election will be held in December. Kemp has declared himself the winner and called on Abrams to concede the race. Abrams has refused to concede, and is no doubt hoping for a run-off. Brendan Morrow
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
In the course of recounts in Georgia and Florida, perhaps this is what Democrats should be stating loudly as the reasons why:


The fight for a fair recount, they must explain, is a fight to push back against several decades of conservative attempts to restrict the franchise and undermine the legacy of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Every eligible person should be able to vote and their votes must be counted. These are bedrock principles for any democracy.


Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor, already took a step in the right direction by exchanging his election-night concession for a defiant statement: “I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote.”

Here is maybe why the message matters: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/florida-recounts-message-matters/575614/


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QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Democrat Stacey Abrams admits defeat in Georgia gubernatorial race
https://theweek.com/5things/808290/democrat-stacey-abrams-admits-defeat-georgia-gubernatorial-race
Democrat Stacey Abrams on Friday said that it was not possible for her to win the gubernatorial race in Georgia, admitting defeat against Republican Brian Kemp, who had already declared victory in the hotly contested race.

On Election Day, the race was too close to call, and Abrams accused Kemp of suppressing votes as Georgia's secretary of state in an effort to become governor. "I acknowledge that [Kemp] will be certified the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial elections," Abrams said, saying her remarks were not a concession speech. "Concession means to acknowledge an act is right, true or proper. ... I cannot concede that." She said she would file a federal lawsuit to contest the "gross mismanagement" of the election.

Source: NPR
 

MASTERBAKER

༺ S❤️PER❤️ ᗰOD ༻
Super Moderator
Freda Sledge Gillum thank you for a fair and hard race...You didn't lose. .FLORIDA DID,they got their racist.Wish you the BEST!!


POLITICS
11/17/2018 05:43 pm ET Updated 3 hours ago
Andrew Gillum Concedes Florida Gubernatorial Race To Ron DeSantis
The announcement comes after a week and a half of uncertainty over a recount.

By Sara Boboltz
X



Andrew Gillum, the Democratic mayor of Tallahassee running for governor of Florida, on Saturday conceded the contentious race to his Republican opponent Ron DeSantis.

Gillum appeared in a Facebook video with his wife, R. Jai Gillum, to acknowledge his loss ― by a margin of just 0.41 percentage points.

“We said that we would fight until the last vote is counted. We wanted to make sure that every single vote ― including those that were overvotes, undervotes ― as long as those were legally cast, we wanted those votes to be counted,” Gillum began.

“And now that we are rounding that process out, R. Jai and I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Mr. DeSantis for becoming the next governor of the great state of Florida,” he said.

Gillum posted the video 11 days after the 2018 midterm elections, when tight margins between the two candidates triggered an automatic machine recount. Although the candidate conceded to DeSantis after the Nov. 6 election, he rescinded his words as it became apparent that a recount was necessary.

The state’s similarly close U.S. Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican Gov. Rick Scott remains officially undecided. A second, manual recount is underway in that contest, because the margin following the initial machine recount was still too narrow by state standards.

“Nobody wanted to be governor more than me, but this was not just about an election cycle,” Gillum said in the video posted Saturday. “This was about creating the kind of change in this state that really allows for the voices of everyday people to show up again in our government, in our state and in our communities.”


“More than 4 million of you decided that you wanted a different direction for the state of Florida,” he said, adding that he and his wife remain committed to the campaign’s values.

In a tweet following Gillum’s concession, DeSantis wrote, “Now it’s time to bring Florida together.”

 
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