Florida Governor's Race: DeSantis And Graham Pull Ahead

AVENTURA, FL — With Florida's gubernatorial primary now only weeks away on Aug. 28, two candidates have emerged as frontrunners heading into the all-imporant home stretch. Buoyed by a light-hearted ad that embraces his Trump endorsement, Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis enjoys an 11-point advantage while former Congresswoman Gwen Graham has a 5.3 point lead over fellow Democrats, according to RealClearPolitics polling averages. Graham is the daughter of former Florida Gov. Bob Graham and enjoys the added boost of name recognition among voters.

President Trump delivered his formal endorsement to DeSantis on Tuesday at a Tampa rally where more than 5,000 people packed the fairgrounds Expo Hall to hear the president speak and an equal number of ticketholders spilled outside without seats.

DeSantis' next closest opponent is former Florida agriculture commissioner Adam Putnan, who has the endorsement of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. DeSantis' polling averages were at 38.8 percent compared to 27.8 percent for Putnam.

The RealClearPolitics average is based on a statistical average of multiple polls.

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Graham's toughest competition comes from popular former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, whose entry into the race appears to have siphoned away some of Levine's support. Both Greene and Levine are wealthy businessmen, but Levine has the added advantage of actual government experience, something that Greene lacks but has attempted to downplay in interviews.

Graham averaged 22.8 points from RealClearPolitics while Levine averaged 17.5 points. Greene trailed with 12 points. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum trailed all three candidates with 8.8 points but he received a big endorsement on Wednesday from former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. Entrepreneur Chris King trailed the field with 6.3 points.

"Andrew has never backed down from a fight, including beating the NRA and standing up against xenophobic politicians," declared Sanders in his endorsement.

Levine got an endorsement from San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, who said Levine contacted her "out of nowhere" in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. "Hi mayor. My name is Philip Levine. Not mayor of Miami Beach just Philip Levine," she recalled of the conversation. "I've been watching you and your people and I'm going to get on a plane and I'll be there Saturday with medicine, food and supplies."

In his humorous television ad, Desantis' Emmy-award-winning wife, Casey begins by saying, "Everybody knows my husband Ron DeSantis is endorsed by President Trump. But he's also an amazing dad. Ron loves playing with the kids."

DeSantis can then be seen coaching one child to "Build the wall" with blocks while reading to another from a fictitious book: "Then Mr. Trump said, 'You're fired.' I love that part," DeSantis insists.

But kidding aside, DeSantis trailed Graham by four points in a head-to-head matchup conducted by Gravis Marketing. Meanwhile Putnam enjoyed a one-point advantage over Graham in the same poll. Gravis gave DeSantis a two-point advantage over Levine while Putnam had a five-point advantage in a head-to-head matchup.

Watch the DeSantis ad below:

Photo of Gwen Graham (left) courtesy campaign website. Photo of Ron DeSantis courtesy U.S. House of Representatives.