Fasten your seat belts.
Andrew Gillum, the black mayor of Tallahassee, won the Democratic nomination for governor in Florida tonight.
Like Stacey Adams in adjacent Georgia, Gillum is an aggressive progressive who will run a general election campaign focused not on attracting Trump voters but on turning out the vote across the potential Democratic coalition: liberals, moderates, minorities, and millennials. Gillum supports legalizing marijuana, single-payer health care, abolishing ICE, and impeaching Trump. Gillum, who campaigned for Clinton in 2016, was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, George Soros, and Tom Steyer. His opponents spent $90 million (!!) on this primary. Gillum spent $4 million. Like Adams, Gillum's opponent will be a hardcore Trumpist.
Florida is always a brutal election battleground, but the stakes are incredibly high this year. Florida is one of the most populous states in the country and its Electoral College votes could determine the 2020 Presidential contest. The state's Congressional Districts will be redrawn during the next governor's term.
Trump told evangelical leaders at a dinner last night that if the Democrats win the House, they will unleash antifa to violently attack the general population. This is where the GOP is already at 70 days away from the November midterms. If signs of a blue wave continue to persist, this fall will see the most vicious, howling, bare-knuckled elections we have seen in this country in a century. The Republicans' only accomplishment has been a phenomenally unpopular tax cut. The Trump gang will soon focus full time on what they do best--scaring the shit out of their base by applying massive, relentless doses of outfront, shrieking racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism racism.