A day after Andrew Gillum’s announcement that he is launching a campaign to register 1 million new voters in the state to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020, Republicans are looking to turn the announcement into a fundraising campaign.

In an email sent to supporters Thursday morning, the Republican Party of Florida reminded voters of recent comments made by “failed gubernatorial candidate and corrupt Tallahassee Mayor” Gillum about the results in the governor’s race. Gillum lost to his Republican opponent Ron DeSantis by 32,463 votes, or 0.4 percent.

“Just the other day, Gillum said, ‘Had we been able to legally count every one of those votes not just in Florida, but also in Georgia, I wonder what the outcome may be,’” the email quotes Gillum.

“He STILL can’t accept that Florida chose Governor Ron DeSantis over his radical socialist agenda last November,” the message goes on to say. “Now he’s seeking his revenge in 2020.”

The email says with less than two years remaining until the 2020 presidential election, and with Gillum’s political committee already armed with close to $4 million in cash, the GOP has to ”take Gillum’s initiative seriously.” The message urges recipients to contribute to the RPOF’s Election Security Fund to stop Gillum from “sabotaging” President Trump’s reelection efforts..

Democrats have maintained a lead over Republicans for years in terms of registered voters, but that lead has decreased.  Last year, the Democrats slipped to just under 264,000 — 4.96 million registered Democrats compared to 4.7 registered Republicans.

“Voter registration is red flag No. 1,”the former Tallahassee mayor told POLITICO, calling increased voter registration crucial to the Democratic Party’s ability to survive and thrive in Florida.

 

“We’re looking at a target of 1 million,” he said. “We’ve got over 3 million people eligible to vote, and that’s to say nothing of the 1.4 million returning citizens” — former felons in line to have their voting rights restored under a constitutional amendment approved by voters last year.

The Florida Democratic Party also announced Wednesday it will spend $2 million over the next year to enroll 200,000 new voters over the course of the next year.