In the governor’s race, Republican Ron Desantis might have the Cuban running mate, but Democrat gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is not giving up on the Hispanic vote.
Nor is he taking it for granted, launching an #UnidosPorGillum campaign and recruiting Hispanic supporters and surrogates.
After having first only one Hispanic listed on his campaign leadership announcement Sept. 17 — Deputy Campaign Manager Cesar Fernandez, from Governor Charlie Crist‘s 2014 bid — Gillum expanded his Hispanic outreach team two days later. He added none other than Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chair Juan Cuba as Hispanic Outreach Director and state activist Millie Raphael — who works with Women’s March, MomsDemand and RiseUp Florida — as Statewide Hispanic Outreach consultant.
Then LGBT activist Jorge Mursuli was called in as Senior Advisor for Hispanic Affairs and Maryin Vargas , who just lost a barely challenge to Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, as deputy Hispanic outreach.
He’s also had a number of Hispanic surrogates do the Spanish-language local TV and radio rounds for him. Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez did Ahora con Oscar Haza and Sen. Annette Taddeo spoke for him on Actualidad radio. Ivette Gonzalez Pekovich, a Democrat activist who ran for state rep once, and Simon Ferro represented Gillum on Al Fondo con Pedro Sevsec. And former State Rep. Daisy Baez — who is still beloved by Dems even though she was forced to resign after she was found living outside her district — started a Facebook page Dominicans for Andrew Gillum.
Gillum himself was interviewed by Marilyn Llanos of Telemundo and attended a Puerto Rican policy roundtable at the Borinquen Medical Center in Miami. Then he invited Gov. Rosello to come to Kissimmee to speak about the future of Puerto Ricans in Florida and on the island. He made a Facebook Live video on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Maria passing through Puerto Rico and tweeted responses to President Trump’s petty tweets challenging the death toll.
He also tweeted in support of U.S. sanctions on the wife of Venezuelan President Maduro.
On Saturday, he is the featured guest at the Miami-Dade Democrats Blue Gala main fundraiser. But on Friday, you don’t have to pay $300 for an event at Little Havana’s Ball and Chain restaurant — just in time for Viernes Culturales. The event, which starts at 7 p.m., also features Kendrick Sampson, the actor from the HBO series Insecure, who is also a national advocate for Dem candidates and causes.
If you go and post any pics on social media, you are asked to use the hashtag #GillumPresente and #UnidosPorGillum.
It’s not like Gillum needs to court the Latino Vote. A Quinnipac poll released Wednesday shows him with a comfortable lead among Hispanics, 59 percent to 41 for Desantis, who has picked our local State Rep. Jeanette Nuñez as his lieutenant (its the only exciting thing about him). An NBC/Marist poll of 600 likely voters surveyed between Sept. 16 and 20 showed Gillum leading among Hispanics by 14 points.
Gillum also got a $200,000 donation to his PAC from former GOP megadonor Mike Fernandez, a Cuban-American businessman who fled the Republican fold over immigration and who could easily raise more money for the former Tallahassee mayor.
So, in Spanish: Esta acabando!

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