A.G. Gancarski
Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, per recent polling of the Democratic side of the Florida Governor’s race, is in the game as Early Voting wraps up in just two days.
A recent tracking poll from SEA Polling and Strategic Design, shows Levine leading former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham 26 percent to 25 percent among all Democrats surveyed, 27 to 25 among those who’ve already voted, and 28 to 27 among those who definitely intend to vote.
Other polls show different numbers, but the consistent trend is Graham and Levine atop the polls, with Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in the mix also. Billionaire Jeff Greene, in what seems like a nod to the emergent reality, has pulled his TV ads.
At this point, there’s little left for any of these candidates (except Greene) to do but continue to execute their plans. Levine already has a closing argument TV spot up, and after months of active campaigning, the endgame for the primary struggle is on.
Levine, in Jacksonville Friday as part of a swing through three markets (Orlando and Tampa area stops being the other two), spoke to Florida Politics by phone en route to a television interview.
As has been the case throughout this run, he is confident that his strategy will prevail despite formidable competition.
“It’s a tight race,” Levine said, with “consistent polls,” a race that will come down to the ground game.
And, despite indications that a key Graham demo (women) are dominating the early vote thus far with 61 percent of the participation (nearly a third of that being white women over 50 years old), Levine does not believe that demographic is voting monolithically.
“I don’t believe people vote that way,” Levine said, “Those days are over.”
The same holds true for African-Americans and Gillum, Levine thinks, even as 21 percent African-American vote share thus far suggests that Gillum’s surge is a real thing.
“We don’t see it,” Levine said, noting that Gillum endorser Sen. Bernie Sanders didn’t do well with African-American voters in 2016.
Levine also touched on the mercurial campaign of Jeff Greene, suggesting that his self-funded efforts made the case for campaign finance reform.
“Repeal Citizens United,” Levine said, suggesting Greene was “running for the wrong reasons” and using “unlimited” financial resources to buy “false, misleading, fictitious ads.”
The race had not been particularly negative until Greene’s entry. Win or lose, Levine will do “everything [he] can” to help the nominee.
Thus far, that willingness to let bygones be bygones doesn’t seem to exist on the Republican side of the race.
