Florida's DeSantis airs attack ads even as Gillum suspends campaigning amid hurricane

Florida’s DeSantis airs attack ads even as Gillum suspends campaigning amid hurricane
Tallahassee, where Gillum is mayor, is right in Hurricane Michael's line of fire.
E.A. Crunden
Oct 10, 2018, 5:06 pm


As Hurricane Michael lashes the Florida Panhandle, attack ads are being run on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis targeting his opponent, Democrat Andrew Gillum.

Meanwhile Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, has suspended campaigning entirely during the storm to focus on his city, which is in the hurricane’s line of fire.

Florida’s Republican Party continued airing ads as Hurricane Michael made landfall, attacking Gillum for his handling of 2016’s Hurricane Hermine, which left much of Tallahassee without electricity. DeSantis’ campaign has notably taken a leading role in assisting with crafting the ads.

Ahead of the storm, Gillum announced he would halt campaigning to focus on addressing the needs of Tallahassee. Hurricane Michael made landfall on Wednesday as a life-threatening Category 4 storm, the first time a storm of such strength has ever hit northwest Florida. Over a million power outages are expected across the coast as well as further inland and officials have warned that any residents who have not evacuated are in extreme danger.

Candidates traditionally suspend attack ads during natural disasters, but that hasn’t been the case in the state’s gubernatorial race. Two ads supporting DeSantis that have been running for at least two weeks continued to air into Wednesday, reaching those inside of Hurricane Michael’s strike zone.

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https://thinkprogress.org/gillum-desantis-attack-ads-hurricane-michael-florida-midterm-elections-735ec8b9f59e/