The Phoenix Flyer

A big, fat national spotlight is glaring on next week’s Florida election

By: Julie Hauserman - October 31, 2018 10:43 am

Everywhere you look in the national media right now, Florida’s election is front and center. The Washington Post writes that “Florida’s Senate race was Rick Scott’s to lose, but he is haunted by his environmental record: Two deadly algae blooms have upended Florida tourism and may have repercussions at the polls.” NBC News reports “Red,blue or green? Environmental concerns threaten to upend Florida elections.”

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show is filming before a live audience this week at Miami’s Jackie Gleason theater. U.S. News & World Report’s senior political writer Dan Catanese has a long think piece, “The Improbable Run of Andrew Gillum: Fueled by his defiance of political norms, Andrew Gillum is on the cusp of history in Florida.” And PBS News Hour came to Tampa to do a roundtable prognosticating on the Florida election.

The races for Florida governor (Gillum versus Republican Ron DeSantis) and U.S. Senate (outgoing Gov. Rick Scott versus incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson) are drawing national political star power: President Donald Trump will stump for DeSantis in Fort Myers Wednesday night and in Pensacola Saturday; former President Barack Obama will be in Miami Friday to stump for Sen. Nelson, and former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will be in Central Florida campaigning for Gillum Wednesday.

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Julie Hauserman

Julie Hauserman has been writing about Florida for more than 30 years. She is a former Capitol bureau reporter for the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times, and reported for The Stuart News and the Tallahassee Democrat. She was a national commentator for National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday and The Splendid Table . She has won many awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is featured in several Florida anthologies, including The Wild Heart of Florida , The Book of the Everglades , and Between Two Rivers . Her new book is Drawn to The Deep, a University Press of Florida biography of Florida cave diver and National Geographic explorer Wes Skiles.