South Florida newspapers back Andrew Gillum, Sean Shaw

Andrew Gillum at general election kickoff rally in Orlando.

The Sun-Sentinel endorsed Democrat Andrew Gillum for Governor, while the Palm Beach Post threw its support behind Democrat Sean Shaw for Attorney General.

The South Florida newspapers issued endorsements early in the general election cycle.

The Sun-Sentinel made special note of Gillum’s education and environmental record, while taking Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis to task in both areas.

“Gillum wants the state to spend more on traditional public schools, especially on teacher salaries. That would help Florida,” the newspaper wrote. “DeSantis wants to continue favoring charter schools, which educate just 10 percent of public school students.”

The newspaper praised the Democrat’s health care platform and plans to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, something not done by Republican Gov. Rick Scott or the Republican-led Florida Legislature over the past eight years.

And while DeSantis has promised to hold polluters accountable for issues like red tide, Sun-Sentinel editorial writers noted DeSantis still proclaims he’s “not a global warming person.”

“That would hurt Florida,” the paper writes.

As for the Palm Beach Post’s support of Shaw, the newspaper labeled the Democrat “the clear choice for Florida attorney general.”

“He would be, in short, a counterforce to the Republicans’ long control of the Legislature,” reads the newspaper’s endorsement of Shaw.

The editorial board outlines his promise to be an activist attorney general, fighting for gun laws and the repeal of Stand Your Ground while demanding the Legislature fund public schools and Amendment 1-required conservation land acquisition.

Of Republican Attorney General candidate Ashley Moody, the newspaper suggests she would be an unfortunate extension of policies by current Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Moody thinks it’s just swell that Bondi joined a Texas lawsuit that seeks to have Obamacare declared unconstitutional,” the newspaper writes. “She backs Bondi’s defense of abortion restrictions passed by the Legislature, some of which have been rejected by the state Supreme Court.”