Long Road Ahead For Andrew Gillum
- Don Juice
- Jul 24, 2018
- 1 min read
As the race for the next governor of Florida continues to heat up one of the Democrat candidates Andrew Gillum seeks to strengthen his appeal to the black community, however, he will have an uphill battle. One of his Democratic rivals Chris King has already garnered much of the black communities support in the Central Florida area which Gillum will desperately need if he hopes to win. Gillum has had some success in the Pine Hills and Greater Orlando by winning the Hob Knob Straw Poll on July 13 against both Democratic and Republican candidates. According to David Rucker an Orlando community activist and former Orange County NAACP president “There’s still a lot of people who don’t really know him, that’s one of my problems, He needs to be known in the community. They hear him, but really don’t hear about him. So we have to do something so people really know who he is and what he stands for.” Lonnie Thompson, a black political consultant who has worked on several Orlando campaigns has stated that while Gillum has a great online presence, getting in contact with seniors in the black communities will be one of his biggest hurdles. Chris King in typical democrat fashion has built his name recognition by going to black churches. And with the Democratic primary being next month Gillum's window to expand his name recognition in the black community is closing by the day. It is worth noting that Gillum did receive a high profile endorsement from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, Florida’s first black state attorney.
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