The 2018 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Florida, alongside an election to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and other state and local elections. Incumbent two-term Republican Governor Rick Scott was term-limited and could not run for a third term, and he successfully ran for Florida's Class I Senate seat.
Republican U.S. representative Ron DeSantis narrowly defeated Democratic mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum for the governorship, in what some considered an upset. The candidate filing deadline was June 22, 2018, and primary elections were held on August 28. Florida uses a closed primary process, in which the selection of each party's candidates for a general election is limited to registered members of that party; Gillum won the Democratic primary and DeSantis the Republican primary.
The close margin mandated a machine recount, which had a deadline of November 15, 2018. After the recount was complete, DeSantis was certified as the winner. Gillum conceded on November 17. DeSantis's victory marked the sixth straight election in which Florida elected a Republican to the governorship, and the third in a row that neither candidate received over 50% of the vote. With a margin of 0.4%, this election was the closest race of the 2018 gubernatorial election cycle. Gillum became the first Democrat to win Duval County since 1986 and Seminole County since 1990, while DeSantis became the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win Jefferson County since 1884.
The first debate, moderated by CNN's Jake Tapper, was hosted on October 21, 2018, at WEDU, Tampa, Florida. It was an hour long debate featuring topics like climate change, minimum wage, health care, gun control, the NRA, DeSantis's "monkey up" comment and President Donald Trump being a role model for children.
This debate was held a day before early voting started in Florida on October 22, 2018.
The second debate occurred on October 24, 2018, and was hosted in Weston, Florida. It was moderated by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association.
with Ron DeSantis and Gwen Graham<br />
with Ron DeSantis and Jeff Greene<br />
with Ron DeSantis and Chris King<br />
with Ron DeSantis and Philip Levine<br />
with Adam Putnam and Andrew Gillum<br />
with Adam Putnam and Gwen Graham<br />
with Adam Putnam and Jeff Greene<br />
with Adam Putnam and Chris King<br />
with Adam Putnam and Philip Levine<br />
with Bob White and Andrew Gillum<br />
with Bob White and Gwen Graham<br />
with Bob White and Chris King<br />
with Bob White and Philip Levine<br />
with generic Republican and Democrat<br />
with Richard Corcoran and Andrew Gillum<br />
with Richard Corcoran and Gwen Graham<br />
with Richard Corcoran and Chris King<br />
with Richard Corcoran and Philip Levine<br />
with Richard Corcoran and John Morgan<br />
with David Jolly and John Morgan<br />
with Jeff Atwater and Gwen Graham<br />
with Jeff Atwater and John Morgan<br />
with Pam Bondi and Gwen Graham<br />
with Pam Bondi and John Morgan<br />
with David Jolly and Gwen Graham<br />
with Andrew Putnam, Andrew Gillum, and John Morgan<br />
with Andrew Putnam, Gwen Graham, and John Morgan<br />
with Richard Corcoran, Andrew Gillum, and John Morgan<br />
with Richard Corcoran, Gwen Graham, and John Morgan<br />
with Adam Putnam and John Morgan<br />
DeSantis won 14 of 27 congressional districts.
The close margin mandated a machine recount, which had a deadline of November 15, 2018. If the margin was below 0.25% after machine recount, Ken Detzner, the Secretary of State of Florida, would commission a manual recount of over-votes and under-votes. However, after the recount was complete, DeSantis' margin was 0.40%; therefore, he was certified the winner. Gillum conceded on November 17.
On November 10, 2022, former president Donald Trump claimed on his Truth Social page that he had prematurely ended the recount to prevent DeSantis and Senate candidate Rick Scott from losing, under the unsubstantiated belief that ballots for them were being removed. Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried has asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate. Sarah Isgur, the spokeswoman of the Department of Justice from 2017 to 2019, has said that it "never happened," a position which was supported by other former Department of Justice officials. Broward County Commissioner Steven Geller agreed that no interference took place.
Official campaign websites