It was arguably the most watched gubernatorial race in the nation this past midterm election season and it didn’t disappoint. It took a recount and multiple lawsuits to finish, but in the end Republican Ron DeSantis defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum.
The mayor of Jacksonville finally conceded for the second time today, nearly two weeks after election day. He already conceded once on election fight.
Andrew Gillum concedes in Florida governor’s race for second time
In a four-minute video posted live on Facebook, Mayor Gillum stood with his wife R. Jai, a Tallahassee park in the background and both dressed in Florida A&M University orange and green. Gillum first thanked his supporters. Then, he officially acknowledged Republican Ron DeSantis as the winner.
“R. Jai and I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Mr. DeSantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of Florida,” Gillum said in the video posted at about 5 p.m.
DeSantis Tweeted acknowledgement of the concession.
This was a hard-fought campaign. Now it’s time to bring Florida together. https://t.co/I1hB0vd3kb
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) November 17, 2018
Florida is a bellwether for the 2020 presidential election. The closeness of the race and the apparent corruption in the state means both parties have a lot of work to do. The state needs to get their act together before then as well.
