With Florida’s gubernatorial seat up for grabs, politicians throughout the state have competed for the past few weeks in hopes of winning their party’s vote in the primaries. The primary elections are when voters elect someone to represent their party in public office. The general elections take place every two years, ten weeks after the primary elections. The election for Florida’s 46th governor will come to a close on Nov. 6, 2018.

This year, two candidates stood out from the rest according to results in the primary elections: Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis. On Aug. 28, the day of the election, Gillum received 34.3 percent of the state’s Democratic Party vote. DeSantis ended the day with 56.5 percent of the Republican Party vote.

DeSantis, a Jacksonville-born, Iraq war veteran was an expected win due to President Trump’s endorsement of him over his opponent Adam Putnam. On the other hand, Gillum, a progressive Democrat, and Gainesville-raised politician who is the current mayor of Tallahassee, defied the odds of earlier reports to best competitors Gwen Graham and Philip Levine.  

Gillum is a strong advocate for state-provided Medicaid, the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and fighting the gun lobby. His platform is composed of criminal justice reform and state economy and employment among other issues. DeSantis on the other hand, is a powerful voice for the pro-life movement, the Second Amendment and higher wages for Floridians. Other key points on DeSantis’ political platform include improving Florida’s economy, ending common core education and stopping illegal immigration.

“When America chose Trump, they chose money over morals, and in this race, I feel like you have a similar dichotomy,” Social studies teacher Aaron Miller said. “DeSantis is a corporate guy like Trump, and like many other politicians, money tends to buy victories.”  

When elected, Gillum plans to repeal Florida’s “stand your ground” law, claiming it to be ill-advised. He also intends to expand Medicaid and offer more coverage to low-income families. Contrastingly, DeSantis focuses on the environmental issues at hand. He aims to rehabilitate the Everglades and prohibit oil-drilling off Florida’s coast. One prevailing issue is the protection of Florida’s clean water. Both candidates have made the extermination of toxic algae blooms a priority in their campaigns.

Regardless of their polar political views, these two candidates on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum will alter the public offices’ gubernatorial fate.