National strategy? Andrew Gillum bypasses Florida press, gives Rolling Stone exclusive
Despite losing the Florida Governor race, Andrew Gillum still has a knack for getting media coverage.

Andrew Gillum

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum awaits the results of the machine recount in the race for Florida Governor against Republican Ron DeSantis.

In what seems to be a strategic move, the Democrat bypassed in-state media in his first interview since rescinding his concession of the race.

Gillum preferred instead to give quotes to Rolling Stone (the kind of move someone might make who is eyeing national viability in 2020).

The big takeaway is close to the lede: Gillum saying “I’m not leaving the field.”

The full quote: “If I’m unsuccessful in this race — after a legitimate vote has been taken and after a legitimate count has been completed, and if I’m not the victor here — what I have said, certainly in this moment that we now find ourselves, is that I’m not leaving the field.”

What does that mean?

“I think my mission and my work becomes a lot more clear, first and foremost around the work that has to be done to ensure our democracy. And that means counting every vote. Every legal vote that is cast being counted. I don’t know what form that takes, really. I haven’t been able to think long enough and hard enough about that,” Gillum said.

“But I do know that I don’t want to see anybody legitimately have the excuse that they are not voting because their votes don’t count. That can’t happen. Whether I’m the one impacted by that vote or not. That can’t be the legacy of this election. I’m not gonna let that be the legacy of this election,” Gillum added.

Try as interviewer Jamil Smith might, he was unable to get a definitive statement on what’s next.

“I have not considered another office. I certainly haven’t considered what it means to run in two years,” Gillum said as the interview wrapped. “I don’t want to be that person who’s looking squarely at the shortcomings in the process right where I sit and then choose to walk away and do nothing. You know what? I’m not him.”

“And so, if there’s a place for me to help figure that out, I’m probably going to sink my teeth into that part of fixing this thing, so that this isn’t the scenario for the next candidate and the next voter and the next organizer and the next volunteer who poured everything they had into something, only to have somebody interpret that because the signature ain’t right, that their vote is not counted,” Gillum added.

Gillum also framed his rescinded concession in the light of massive midterm turnout and Republicans using his speech, given before the 11 p.m. news on Election Night, as a reason to move forward from the election.

“After understanding all of that, there was no way, in spite of how badly we wanted all of this to be resolved, that I could rest knowing that there were people out there who were not clear that their votes had been counted yet,” Gillum related.

“There was no way that we could signal to those folks who voted,” Gillum added, “those folks who worked for this thing, that I was ready to be done with it and allow Republicans to get away with saying, “Oh, well, get him conceded and therefore we shouldn’t count any more votes’.”

“I mean, that became the rhetoric — from the president. He quoted me conceding as justification as to why we ought to shut down the count. When that became clear to me, there was no way I could allow my actions to be a cover for people to be robbed of their opportunity to be counted,” Gillum added.

Gillum also addressed the mechanics of the concession, one seemingly unprompted by DeSantis.

“I told him it appears that he may be the winner in this race. He responded to me and said that if that’s the case and I’m thinking about running for anything, please don’t choose to run against him again [laughs]. And we exchanged a laugh. And that was kind of it. I mean, it almost blurs in my mind because it feels like so long ago,” Gillum said.

[Cynics might point out, perhaps, other occasions when detail blurred in Gillum’s mind, particularly those regarding Hamilton tickets and related matters].

The interview raises questions, eludes others.

Nevertheless, what is clear: Win or lose the recount, Gillum knows he has to protect his brand. And that brand may find him on a national stage sooner than later.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


6 comments

  • Frankie M.

    November 14, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    Worked for Jalen. Local talking heads are still butthurt over being snubbed in favor of GQ.

  • Whyte Power

    November 15, 2018 at 2:00 am

    “I’m not leaving the field,” said Gillum.
    Guess that means there’s alot more cotton to pick?

    • Paul E Pauls III

      November 15, 2018 at 8:51 pm

      That sounds of@y.

    • TJ

      November 16, 2018 at 3:57 am

      You sound as though your mother loves black men.

      • TJ

        November 16, 2018 at 3:59 am

        This mother comment is for white power

  • mck

    November 15, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    Gillum is doing all of this for Iowa. Anyone who thinks otherwise is so nieve as to be pitiable.

    He was always running for Iowa, just like Beto. I’m not even sure he wanted to win to be honest, he ran a federal campaign exclusively.

    But he can’t beat Beto in Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or New York, so he is positioning himself for Clinton’s southern firewall, and Florida of course, with this “count every vote campaign”…but he won the the Florida primary with less than 40% of the total. Even the kids at Parkland didn’t endorse him, they endorsed Levine.

    Beto is more charismatic, just as fake, but more likeable, more hip, and contray to popular belief, Gillum’s support in Broward has more to do with DeSantis and Blue Wave ™, than him personally. Plus Beto’s white, never underestimate the power of latent racism.

    Gillum’s dragging this out, not because he thinks he’ll overtake DeSantis, but because he wants to regain the facade of the progressive liberator, which he lost when he came out squarely against Medicare for All in the debate with DeSantis. He lost a lot of support outside of Flordia for that. If he flip flops again on it, he’ll lose even more support.

    Plus Beto just came out against AUMF. Without promising to repeal AUMF and FISA, Obama would have lost the left’s vote in 2008 (Democrats are not on the left, they are on the “left”), he likely would have lost in 2008 without us. Of course, he lied and renewed both.

    It will be interesting if Tulsi runs, she might sweep the open primaries, she will have a ton of appeal to independents. Gillum will have no appeal to independents, and Beto has to counter “attractive surfer girl Iraq war vet,” with “cute, rich kid, do nothing congressman, air guitar player.”

    Sanders should stay home, he’s too old. None of the other oldies have a chance against the pretty young things.

    Gillum should stop wasting tax payer money and taking up time that could be used for down ballot recounts.

Comments are closed.


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