The fact the Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis, the candidates for the upcoming 2018 gubernatorial election, have incredibly contrasting political views is consistent throughout headlines. It is important for students who may be voting for the first time to research candidates and make informed decisions based on facts. 

The following list will briefly describe how each of these candidates stand regarding many issues leading up to the election on November 6th. For information on the candidates themselves and the reason the upcoming election is so important please read our article titled A Historic Decision which discusses the significance of this election. 

Education

Andrew Gillum: Gillum supports the idea to invest 1 billion dollars into public education. By doing this he plans to raise the minimum salary for teachers in Florida to $50,000 a year (closer to the national average than it currently is). This investment plans to also increase early childhood education.

Ron DeSantis: DeSantis would like to implement a district managed education program to further parents abilities to make the best decisions for their children’s education. In addition, DeSantis also supports the “stop common core” movement, but has not stated what he has in store to replace the common core system.

Health Care

Andrew Gillum: Gillum is calling for the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Health Care Act. Doing this for will benefit 700,000 low-income Florida families by making Medicaid available to them.

Ron DeSantis: DeSantis disagrees completely on this issue however. In the past DeSantis has expressed his opinions they programs similar to Obamacare infringe on citizens right to choose what healthcare they would prefer.

Guns

Andrew Gillum: Gillum is a supporter of stricter gun-control laws including, but not limited to, prohibiting guns to citizens with domestic abuse charges legislation that banned the sale of assault rifles to Americans under the age of 21. As mayor of Tallahassee he fought the gun lobby and won a case defending a ban of of firearms in public parks. He has been endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety as a candidate who will prioritize common-sense gun safety measures.

Ron DeSantis: DeSantis does not believe in putting restrictions on citizens 2nd amendment rights and has earned an “A” rating by the National Rifle Association. He is critical of most gun-control laws that have been proposed since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school massacre, and says he would have vetoed the historic gun-control law passed after the shooting. In particular he seems to disagree very strongly regarding age restrictions.

Immigration

Andrew Gillum: Gillum strongly disagrees with how the federal government is handling illegal immigration into the country and is opposed to the removal of grants in place to support sanctuary cities. This is because the word illegal is not a noun, therefore it is wrong to call these people illegal and the actions America is currently taking is not consistent with our countries original values.

Ron DeSantis: DeSantis wholeheartedly agrees with Trump on immigration policies to the point of promoting the building of a border wall in one of his campaign ads while playing blocks with his daughter. In addition, DeSantis plans to ban sanctuary cities and to enact an E-Verify mandate. This will require employers to know the immigration of their employees.

Marijuana

Andrew Gillum: Gillum supports the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana. By legalizing recreational marijuana he hopes to use the tax to support his 2 billion dollar investment in education.

Ron DeSantis: DeSantis believes that medical marijuana should be legal because that is what the people of Florida want. However he does not support the legalization of recreational marijuana.

In addition to the information listed above, the Greyhound Growl encourages ours readers to further their knowledge and perform addition research on both of these candidates to help fully understand both sides of the upcoming election before voting.