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Both major candidates for Florida’s governor are crisscrossing the state to fight for votes as early voting is well underway.
Republican Byron Donalds appeared at a rally in Hialeah with his Lt. Gov. pick, former Florida State Sen. Bryan Avila and other local officials.
“And let’s make sure that the next governor of the free state of Florida is Byron Donalds!” said Avila to a cheering crowd.
7News cameras captured Donalds greeting supporters outside of his campaign bus upon his arrival. The event is meant to boost Republican turnout in Miami-Dade County.
“Hialeah, how are you doing this evening?” said Donalds.
The Hialeah event also included guest speaker Donald Trump Jr, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody and others.
“As your governor, we are for having the most accountable government in America,” said Donalds.
Speaking to 7News during the event, Donalds said he wants all voters to support his campaign, including independents.
“I think independent voters in our state love Florida. They love everything about this state. They just want it to be more affordable. And if you look at our plans compared to our opponent, we can lower costs in insurance and housing costs here in the state of Florida,” he said.
Latest polls show a tight race of between two and four points, with Donalds taking the edge.
“For us right now is to make sure that we get people to the polls and we get out and vote,” said the Republican nominee. “Is the environment tighter than people might grow accustomed to in Florida? Yeah, but we’re still going to go out and work every single day and we know we’re going to have a lot of Republican voters who are going to show up to the polls this weekend and on Tuesday.”
Across the Sunshine State, official numbers show about 3.5 million Floridians have already voted in the general election. Republicans hold a slight edge in the early voting numbers.
Up north near Daytona Beach, Democratic candidate David Jolly held a rally alongside his Lt. Gov. pick Gwen Graham.
“The next governor of the state of Florida, David Jolly,” said Graham to a crowd of supporters.
“We’re building a bigger table and I came into the party, not to change it. I came into the party to grow it and there are a lot of other folks like David Jolly who are looking for a political home and I am proud I have found my home in today’s Democratic party.”
Jolly, a former Republican congressman, hopes to break the three-decade Republican “spell” over the Florida Governor’s Mansion, telling voters the race is a toss-up.
“This is a moment for us to return to the basic opportunity that this nation was founded upon, that everybody deserves access to freedom, economic and personal freedom,” said Jolly. “This election is decided by the people who show up, the people who show up.”
Back in Hialeah, Donalds spoke about the contrast between him and his opponent.
“David Jolly is a fraud and he’s taking advantage of your party to try to get elected and that’s not the leadership you can trust and that’s not the leadership we need in the great state of Florida,” he said.
Both men will continue crisscrossing the state in the lead-up to Election Day, which falls on Nov. 3.
