Ryan Nicol
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jeff Greene is out with two new TV ads as he continues his push to make up ground in the 2018 primary.
Fresh off an interview Monday with Florida Politics in which he questioned his opponents’ ability to challenge the eventual Republican nominee, Greene’s new ads focus on his planned actions as governor, and include a jab at President Donald Trump‘s frequent visits to the Sunshine State.
The first of the two 30-second ads is titled “3 Reasons,” and invokes Greene’s three children as motivators for his fight for education reform.
“With three small children, education becomes personal,” the ad’s narrator notes. The ad highlights “The Greene School,” which was opened by the billionaire back in 2016.
He started the nonprofit West Palm Beach school due to frustrations with the existing state school system.
But the ad notes Greene will bring what he’s learned from his own experience of heading a school to Florida’s public school system. That includes a proposal for two years of pre-K education for all children.
The ad is in line with what Greene told us during an interview last month at the Democrats’ Leadership Blue conference in Hollywood. Greene kept coming back to education changes throughout the talk, noting an improvement in the state’s educational system would lead to widespread benefits in other areas, such as job creation and criminal justice reform.
The desire to improve the state’s schools was also included in Greene’s second ad, which was primarily aimed at Trump’s frequent visits to Palm Beach.
Titled “Trump Golf,” the ad’s narrator bashes Trump for those taxpayer-funded visits.
“Trump’s president and we’re paying the price. Literally. Every time Trump comes here to play golf, Florida taxpayers are paying for it. Millions wasted in road closures and overtime.”
Greene promised to end that practice as governor, “and put that money where Florida needs it: to fully fund Planned Parenthood and help our struggling schools with more teachers and resources.”
Recent polling has shown Greene trailing Philip Levine and Gwen Graham in the race for the Democratic nomination. But large numbers of voters are also undecided, leaving Greene with hope he can make up the gap in time for the Aug. 28 primary.
That’s in part due to Greene’s ability to self-fund all the way to the general election, a fact noted by Greene spokeswoman Claire VanSusteren.
“Greene’s unique appeal to Florida Democrats lies in his ability to spend whatever it takes to go toe-to-toe with historically better-funded Republicans in the general election to help Democrats regain control of the Governor’s mansion for the first time in 20 years without being beholden to special interest groups.”
