Politics

Florida GOP holds 1st gubernatorial debate

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — One candidate has the backing of President Donald Trump, but the other has a lead in the polls.

On Thursday, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam squared off against U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in the first Republican gubernatorial debate live from the 2018 Florida Sunshine Summit in Osceola County.

The GOP debate was nationally televised, indicating the significance of this race on the national stage.

“As policy goes in this state, as state politics goes, so goes the United States. We’re important, not just for policy but for politics,” Florida GOP Chairman Blaise Ingoglia said in an interview with Eyewitness News. “Florida is a leader, not just on policy, but the things that we advocate for, the things that we pass here from school choice to our record on job creation.”

In December, DeSantis picked up the endorsement of President Donald Trump.  Last week, the president doubled-down, issuing another tweet backing DeSantis.

Despite Trump’s backing and popularity in the state, it is Putnam who is leading in the polls. A Fox News poll, released last week has Putnam leading 32 percent to 17 percent, with 39 percent undecided. The Fox poll mirrors an NBC poll released this week that showed Putnam leading DeSantis 38 percent to 21 percent, with 39 percent undecided.

Both Putnam and DeSantis have been complimentary of Trump and Gov. Rick Scott, although neither Scott nor Trump will be in attendance for the debate or the two-day GOP Sunshine Summit. Scott, who has attended in the past, will instead be in Washington, D.C., at a fundraiser for his U.S. Senate campaign.

“It would have been great to have the governor here, but we recognize that the governor is in a very tough race. He’s taking on an incumbent and he has to get out, raise money and get his message out,” said Ingoglia, downplaying the governor’s absence.