Trump, Obama will visit Florida this week as 2.7 million Floridians have already cast ballots

by | Oct 29, 2018


Add the name of former President Barack Obama to the list of political figures who are coming or have come to Florida to campaign for their parties’ candidates. President Donald Trump is set to make two more stops in the Sunshine State before the Nov. 6 election.

Their visits come as a large number of early voters cast ballots by mail and at early voting sites across the state. As of 7:19 a.m. Monday, more than 2.7 million Floridians have voted.

The show of support by each parties’ leaders reflects the significance that Florida is playing in the election with crucial contests taking place for the U.S. Senate and for Florida governor.

On Wednesday, Trump is scheduled to hold a Make America Great Again rally in Fort Myers, with Gov. Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, the GOP’s candidates for Senate and governor, respectively, are expected to attend.

Trump will make at least one more stop in Florida before next week’s election. That visit will be to Pensacola for a rally on Saturday.

“President Trump is coming to Florida to support my campaign THIS Wednesday… and I want to be able to tell him we’re prepared to launch our campaign to victory on November 6,”  DeSantis said in a fundraising email sent out to supporters Monday morning.

A poll released over the weekend shows tight races in both high profile contests in Florida. The race is a dead heat between Scott and Bill Nelson tied at 46 percent each. While the survey in the governor’s contest shows Andrew Gillum with just a 1-point lead among surveyed voters, 47 percent to 46 percent. There were 6 percent of the voters undecided in the Senate contest, with 5 percent undecided in the race for governor.

Obama will visit South Florida on Nov. 2. He’ll be in Miami at Ice Palace Films Studios, the Florida Democratic Party announced Monday.

“I’m proud and humbled to have President Obama, my friend and a true patriot, on the campaign trail here in Florida,” said Gillum. “President Obama knows what’s at stake in this election — protections for people with pre-existing conditions, funding for public schools, and leadership to restore our environment. With President Obama’s help, we’re going to bring it home for Florida this November.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigned with Gillum and Nelson last week, as did current Vice President Mike Pence who was in Jacksonville with DeSantis.

Monday, Gillum will make another campaign swing through South Florida with U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, and former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Their visits come with a full of week of early voting still available for Florida voters to cast ballots before Nov. 6. Of the 2.7 million ballots already cast, Republican voters continue to hold a lead of more than 50,000 ballots over Democrats — Republicans have cast 1.15 million ballots compared to nearly 1.10 ballots cast by their Democratic opponents.

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