Billionaire Tom Steyer is directing another $2 million toward Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s campaign for governor of Florida as the Democrat aims to shake up the midterm elections.
Steyer is directing a massive direct mail pitch to 300,000 Florida voters who signed up to support his effort to impeach President Donald Trump. The pitch references Gillum’s liberal bonafides and his support for impeaching Trump, who enjoys relatively high approval numbers in the state.
“If you were going to choose a single race that has the most national significance, it would be the governor’s race in Florida,” Steyer told reporters. He already dropped $5 million on the Florida Democrat’s race in September through the California financier’s political action group, NextGen America.
The cash infusion might not be enough to beat back Gillum’s opponent, Rep. Ron DeSantis, a conservative firebrand and firm Trump supporter. The Democratic candidate has garnered support from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and is running on a left-wing platform.
DeSantis, meanwhile, is using Gillum’s support for impeachment as a cudgel to bash the Democratic mayor.
“We need a governor that is going to work constructively with the Trump administration to advance Florida’s priorities” DeSantis told CNN in September. “You know Andrew wants to impeach President Trump, about what? I don’t know.”
Steyer has repeatedly argued that Gillum’s pro-impeachment platform will not torpedo his chances.
“We looked at 5,000 Republican ads and not one of them mentioned impeachment. So, if you want to know if it is a hot-button issue (for Republicans), it isn’t,” said Steyer.
Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum speaks at a Florida League of Cities Gubernatorial Candidates Forum in Hollywood, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper
Democrats have so far not warmed to Steyer’s multi-million-dollar campaign to impeach Trump.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, for instance, called an impeachment campaign impractical, suggesting it distracts from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and could jeopardize Democratic efforts to take back Congress. (RELATED: Steyer’s Impeach Trump Campaign Scrounges For Support On Long Road Trip)
Steyer also has a poor track record of backing successful campaigns. He spent about $86 million in the 2016 election cycle, for instance, in a losing bid to get Democrats elected. His political group, NextGen Climate, meanwhile, spent about $56 million in 2016, according to campaign finance data.
The race is effectively a deadlocked as midterm elections end Nov. 6. Gillum is ahead of DeSantis 45 to 43 percent in the most recent RealClearPolitics poll.
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