TAMPA, Fla. -- One day before Ron DeSantis squares off against his opponent in the first Florida gubernatorial debate, the Republican candidate made a campaign stop in Tampa.
He discussed a wide range of topics at the event, including how he’ll help people in the Panhandle recovering from Hurricane Michael.
DeSantis visited that area last weekend last weekend. The lifelong Floridian said the damage is worse than any he's seen in the state, but he will help rebuild the area if elected.
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“I have no doubt that we'll get it done, but I do think it's important to let them know that as governor I recognize that this is not something that, 'oh, the storm hits in September or October, and then January we'll forget about it,'” DeSantis said. “No, we'll be there and we'll help them out.”
Another topic DeSantis covered was healthcare coverage. In Congress, he's worked to repeal Obamacare, while his opponent supports universal healthcare. DeSantis, on the other hand, wants to keep employer-provided plans.
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“People are earning these benefits,” he said. “He wants to take those away, and he wants to dump them on a government plan against their will, so your taxes go up, you lose the policy you have and then you end up on a government plan that may not give you the same access to physicians. That is not the right approach.”
On the same day DeSantis visited Tampa, President Trump again tweeted his support for him, saying "his incompetent opponent will destroy Florida--next Venezuela!" However, asked how much momentum the president's support has given his campaign, DeSantis wouldn't give Trump the credit.
“We do have a lot of momentum, but I think we've really created a lot of that momentum,” DeSantis said.
Sunday night’s debate is the first time DeSantis will face off against his democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum. A previous debate had to be canceled because Gillum went back to Tallahassee, where he’s mayor, to help with hurricane recovery.
Gillum, who had a town hall event in St. Pete Friday, discussed his plans for healthcare, increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and raising teacher's salaries, among other things. He said he'll pay for that with a big tax increase on some corporations. At his event Saturday, DeSantis bashed that increase.
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