Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam’s political committee, Florida Grown, has launched a new attack ad against his opponent, Ron DeSantis. The spot (see below) portrays DeSantis as “a creature of the D.C. swamp who betrayed Floridians,” according to a statement issued Friday by the Putnam campaign.
The ad hits DeSantis again for supporting a 23 percent national sales tax, but also accuses DeSantis of voting to lower Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors and siding with President Barack Obama in supporting an increase in the national debt ceiling.
“And he wants to cut social security for seniors,” the announcer says in the ad.
A release issued by the Putnam campaign accuses DeSantis of voting “three times for a budget measure that would have cut Medicare and Social Security benefits to Florida seniors.”
“D.C. DeSantis even voted to raise the debt ceiling for Barack Obama,” the announcer adds.
“Why did he sell Florida out?” the spot goes on to say. “Because the real Ron DeSantis is part of the Washington swamp, working for one of the largest lobbying firms in America… taking a million dollars from Wall Street… and facing massive ethics violations. Hypocrisy. Betrayal. That’s D.C. DeSantis.”
The Putnam campaign and his political committee have been fighting to turn the tide of support that seems to be building for DeSantis, who now appears to have the advantage in the race.
Since President Donald Trump announced his “full endorsement” of DeSantis in June, the momentum in the race appears to have shifted. Two polls released last week had DeSantis leading Putnam by 12-points and 9-points.
At a rally in Tampa Tuesday night, Trump appeared for the first time with DeSantis since making the endorsement.
“I’d like to introduce a true leader. A proud veteran. My great friend,” Trump said at the rally. “He’s tough. He’s smart and he loves Florida and he loves our country. And he’s going to be your next governor, Ron DeSantis.”
Asked to respond to the latest Putnam ad, the DeSantis campaign gave a confident two word response: “Adam who?”
