Democrats celebrate Gillum's win while looking ahead to November

Gillum, Nelson face extremely competitive races

ORLANDO, Fla. – The blue wave flooded a hot, tiny union hall in Orlando.

Hundreds of Florida Democrats celebrated Andrew Gillum's primary victory Friday, gearing up for tough general election where the governor's mansion and a Senate seat hang in the balance.

Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, is running against President Donald Trump's handpicked candidate, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, while Sen. Bill Nelson faces a formidable challenger in Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

This rally was a deliberate show of force to show these candidates. No matter how diverse the party is, they say, their voters are unified against Republicans.

"Bill Nelson has been on our side every step of the way -- keeping our environment clean. And thanks to our good work, we're going to see blue wave," Gillum said to cheers.

Nelson, a longtime moderate, joined Gillum, a progressive darling, putting together the two wings of the modern Democratic Party.

"I'm going to end there, side-by-side with Andrew, and we're going to take this to victory!" Nelson said.

Even some of the losing candidates in the gubernatorial primary showed up, conceding that Gillum is the spark Democrats need.

"The last line of defense between Donald Trump taking over the state of Florida is Mayor Andrew Gillum," said Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach.

Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who was favored to win the Democratic primary, was even more blunt.

"I said, ‘Andrew -- now go win this damn thing!'" Graham said.

Gillum also addressed that "monkey-this-up" comment by rival DeSantis, which has thrust this race into the national spotlight. Desantis says the accusations of racism are absurd.

"I honestly felt like the congressman pulled a page from Donald Trump, and I don't think that's going to work this time," Gillum said.


About the Authors:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.