EDITORIAL: Analyzing pros and cons of DeSantis and Gillum

Nov. 04--General Election: Tuesday

Early Voting: Sunday is the last day

Bios, questionnaires, endorsements, news stories: www.jacksonville.com/election-news

In a polarized world of politics, voting for governor will be easy for many voters.

Look for the (R) or the (D) by the name.

But for voters who are undecided or registered as NPA (No Party Affiliation), this choice will be difficult. And it's likely that the undecided voters will determine the outcome of both the governor and U.S. Senate races.

Polls have consistently shown that from 7 percent to 10 percent of likely voters are undecided.

Both Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum ran in tough primaries that led them to take extreme positions to earn their party's nomination. That makes it difficult for those who prefer more centrist positions such as the Times-Union Editorial Board.

Both Congressman DeSantis and Tallahassee Mayor Gillum responded to a questionnaire from the Times-Union but only DeSantis appeared for an interview with the board.

So rather than endorse one of the gubernatorial candidates, we're going to highlight some issues that undecided voters can use:

Taxes

This is the biggest difference between Republicans and Democrats. DeSantis promises to run a low-tax regime. Gillum has a plan to increase corporate taxes in order to raise annual teacher pay to $50,000.

PolitiFact Florida determined that the Gillum's corporate tax proposal "wouldn't directly target the average Floridian but experts say at least some of the cost would trickle down."

Health care

Gillum has earlier spoken highly of the Medicare for All plan promoted by Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Sanders proposal is so expensive that even his home state of Vermont turned it down. However, in a recent debate, Gillum focused on expanding Medicaid, which involves receiving billions in federal funds.

DeSantis just released a health care plan. He highlights choice, managed care for Medicaid, federal partnerships to fight opioid abuse but funding is barely mentioned. In an interview with the Times-Union Editorial Board, DeSantis said he was worried that the federal government would pull funding for Medicaid expansion. However, though Republicans control the presidency and Congress, there has been no movement to do that.

Governing

Could Gillum get along with a strong Republican-led Legislature? Could he get along with President Donald Trump even though he called for Trump's impeachment? Gillum says he worked with Gov. Rick Scott on hurricane relief and has been collegial with Florida Senate leaders. And he notes that even Scott had his issues with the Legislature.

DeSantis is a major ally of Trump. However, he has never run a large governmental unit. He has been a congressman, first elected in 2012. How would he do as the CEO of state government? Voters need to guess.

Guns

Gillum embraces gun control. He has taken on the NRA as mayor of Tallahassee. He would ban assault weapons, large magazines and armor-piercing bullets. He would strengthen background checks and close private sale loopholes.

DeSantis supports strong background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. He believes Florida's low overall crime rate means current policies are working.

Environment

Both candidates say they will work to protect Florida's environment. However, DeSantis notes that he won his primary while being attacked by Big Sugar. His website offers highly detailed policies that would be impressive for any candidate.

Gillum believes sea level rise poses a "catastrophic threat" to Florida and would direct state agencies to prepare. DeSantis is briefer on climate change, promising to take "an evidence-based approach to protect our environment and coastline."

Amendment 4

If you believe that most ex-offenders should receive their voting rights back after paying their debt to society, then there is a clear difference here. Gillum is all in on the proposed Constitutional Amendment 4. DeSantis doesn't support it, though in his Times-Union interview he would support some loosening of the current tight conditions practiced by the Florida Cabinet. If Amendment 4 does not receive 60 percent support, then this is a major difference between the candidates.

In the final analysis, voters must guess whether Gillum or DeSantis will be more likely to move to the center as governor.

The people will have make the final decision.

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