On Thursday, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum chose a rival from the primary, Winter Park businessman Chris King, as his Lieutenant Governor pick.
Gillum and King bonded on the campaign trail to the degree that they mulled a joint ticket when each campaign appeared to lack traction.
Gillum had an array of candidates to consider, including Rep. Amy Mercado (who would have had Central Florida and Puerto Rican appeal), Gwen Graham (who garnered 31 percent of the vote in the primary, with appeal in rural areas especially), and state Sen. Lauren Book (minority-leader pro tempore of the party).
Yet Gillum has chosen a candidate who, though he never caught fire with Democrats looking at the top of the ticket, ran an ideas-driven campaign that moved the conversation forward on issues key both to progressives and young voters.
But what seems to be clear: his campaign is betting that the race to win the governorship can be won by consolidating the party’s left flank.
Gillum will officially roll out his pick later this morning via Facebook Live, however the campaign website GillumKing.com was already live as of 9:20 a.m. Thursday. The page is currently only a front with a picture of Gillum and King embracing at one of the Democratic debates that redirects to Gillum’s campaign website.
“Join Andrew Gillum and Chris King today,” the page states. “This is a movement for Florida’s future.”
King was one of Gillum’s biggest defenders during the primary, coming to his defense during one of the Democratic debates when the FBI probe in to Tallahassee City Hall. Gillum has maintained throughout his candidacy that the he is not a target of the investigation, and that the city government itself is not under investigation, just an “individual.”